Going Home and Finding Serenity
by Fate's Child
Summary: Jupiter returns home after a tradedy to find the brother she left almost ten years before. Now there's a whole knew battle to fight and dangerous secrets that could change her friendships. Can she overcome them? *ALL fixed&uploaded*
1. Prologue

::dances around:: YAY!! I did some major revamping of this whole story 'cause quite frankly the grammar and stuff sucked! I know that it seemed like I'd dropped off the face of the planet and that this story is really taking a long time in comparison to my other stories, but this is a lot more in depth, at least I think it is. I can't believe no one put in the review how bad this grammar and sentence structure bit though! I can't fix all of it, but I've done what I can in a short time. I am on the last leg of my spring break right now and so I'm trying to get work on this done. I think I'll try to end the story soon though because I think people are getting bored. Anyway, here are my original author notes and the redone prologue etc. Keep up the reviews!  
  
::Sigh:: Yes, this is Fate's Child with yet another story for your reading pleasure. Let me tell you a few things though. I WANT E-MAIL AND I WANT REVIEWS. Flames are welcome as long as their productive. I hate shit that says 'I hated this because you put so-and-so with so-and-so'. WELL DUH!! You're entitled to your opinion. BUT I WANT TO KNOW WHY YOU DON'T LIKE THOSE TWO TOGETHER OR SOMETHING MORE THEN JUST "I DIDN'T LIKE IT"!!! Anyway, I would like to thank everyone who has supported me in the past, it helps.   
  
With school, and my English teacher (a nun from hell) things have been really busy and will be really busy with all the homework she's giving us and therefore my chapters will be slow coming out. BUT LOOK AT MY PROFILE PAGE!! Is there a single story I've posted that I haven't completed? Huh? Is there? No, I didn't think so. Errrr... actually there is. Son Usagi-the real Usagi IS finished, but I can't find the disk. When I get to my home computer tonight, it will be posted tomorrow. Now you may look and see that I've been a member for almost a year now... I think. So having that many stories out and almost ALL finished isn't too shabby, don't ya think? Anyway, my birthday is on the 13 of December and I AM EXCITED!!! Okay, so that was random. Anywho, on with the story.   
  
Author: Fate's Child (Terra Brooks)  
Date: December 2, 2001  
E-mail: Prncss_Earth@hotmail.com  
Prologue  
Going home and finding Serenity  
  
Kino Makoto, senshi of Jupiter, was crying. One fist clenched at the material above her heart, the other covered her face a tears coursed down her cheeks and sobs wracked her body. Rain fell softly from the sky above her, washing away the blood and dirt that covered her tall frame. Sunset had come and gone, leaving her cloaked in indigo night. Out of the darkness walked three figures. Heads bent, they approached her.   
  
"You let her die." The voice came out like a punch to the gut as a wave of fresh shame washed over her.  
  
"Mars, I-"  
  
"We left you to protect her and you let her die!" Venus' voice cut her off.  
  
"We trusted you." Mercury's voice came soft and covered with hurt. "You betrayed us. You betrayed her." The hurt she experienced that day hardened to anger as she glared at the three figures in front of her.   
  
"And where were you? All of you were off doing your own thing. I was here, I died for her, damn it! I died for her! If you were here, if one of you had been here, maybe I would have lived. Or if I had still died, you would have been there to stop her from giving her life for mine." Tears sprang fresh, into her eyes. "It is you who are traitors, you who are the betrayers. You forsook your duty for your own lives and now blame me for your mistake. May Serenity have pity on your worthless souls." The senshi of Jupiter stood and powered down, walking away from the three figures she had thought were her friends. And she still cried.   
  
  
  
Makoto threw her clothes into the gray bag resting on her bed. Pictures came off the walls and were placed in tissue before being thrown into her space pocket. Her tears had stopped hours ago and now only emptiness remained. As she picked up a picture that had been resting on her dresser, she stared at it, eyes clouding with memories long repressed. The photo was one that she had stared at every night before bed, one of a younger her and a small boy with her hair and indigo eyes.   
  
"Duo." The name escaped her lips as a memory slid to her mind.   
  
Flashback  
  
"DUO!" Lita frantic voice called out. "DUO, RUN!"   
  
"LITA!!" A panicked look crossed the face of a young boy. "I won't leave you."  
  
"Duo, go. Get help. Run and GET HELP!" Struggling against the men holding her, she watched as Duo took one last look in her direction before dodging between the legs of the third man, that was trying to grab him, and heading off into the woods towards the Maxwell church. She closed her eyes for a moment, nearly weeping in relief. They had her, but they'd never have her brother.   
  
"Bitch, shut the fuck up!" One of the men holding her slapped her. A second later, a voice whispered out of the shadows as a ball of purple light appeared.   
  
"Dead Scream." She closed her eyes again as it washed over her, leaving no trace of pain... on her. The men on the other hand, screamed in agony and fell down unconscious. A woman walked out of the shadows clad in a dark sailor fuku with an extremely short skirt.   
  
"Pluto." The name fell from Lita's lips and for a moment, she knew, she remembered all. A portal opened and they stepped through, disappearing in an instant.   
  
End Flashback   
  
Pluto had set her up in her own apartment and given her a background. Lita Trio changed her name to Kino Makoto and had lived her life, her duty, and protected Serenity-Usagi. But now that duty was over. She threw the picture in her bag and zipped it shut, eyes shimmering with tears. Her duty was over and she wanted to go home. She wanted, most of all, to find the brother she'd left behind. Her voice rang out in the room, loud and clear calling the time senshi's name. There was nothing left for her here and in a flash, she was gone. Only a few seconds later, her phone began to ring, her answering machine finally picking up.   
  
"Mako? Mako? Pick up!" A desperate voice sobbed. "It's Minako. Mako, I'm sorry, so sorry. I didn't mean anything I said-" The machine cut her off. It didn't matter anyway, the apartment was empty.   
  
TBC  
  
Review if you are interested in me finishing this story. If you don't tell me that you like it, I won't write just to write.   
Ja - Terra 


	2. Regected?

NEXT CHAPTER!!  YAY!  That wasn't so bad for timing, was it?

Oh, YEAH!  Forgot to add disclaimer before.  

Let me tell you a little about me.  I am in eleventh grade and I live with my parents.  I don't own a car, I don't own the house I live in and I didn't buy the laptop I'm typing on.  So what the HELL makes all you people out there think that I own Sailor Moon or Gundum Wing?  Huh?

OH!  BTY:  Since she is going back to her original dimension, her name switched from Makoto to Lita since that was what she was born with…  

Author:  Fate's Child (Terra Brooks)

Date: December 2, 2001

E-mail:  Prncss_Earth@hotmail.com

Chapter One

Going home and finding Serenity

Lita landed with a thud on top of a very soft, very warm body.  Flushing, she stood up and apologized profusely to the woman she had landed on.  The woman only glared before stalking away.  Sighing, she retrieved her bag from the sidewalk, and headed for the nearest hotel.  

After checking in, she threw her bag into the corner chair and fell back against the bed.  Tears filled her already sore-from-crying eyes and she snapped them shut.  Clenching her teeth together, she slammed her fist down onto the bed.  

"I won't cry."  Her eyes opened and only anger at her comrades remained.  "They shouldn't have slacked.  They should have been there."  Lita sighed before removing her clothes, anger and grief draining her of all remaining strength.  She swiftly removed her clothes and dressed in a tank top and clean panties before crawling into bed and quickly succumbing to sleep.  

After taking a shower, Lita braided her hair and was pleased to note that it reached almost three quarters of the way down her back.  She buttoned up her black shirt and took a quick look at her reflection in the mirror in front of her.  Pluto had been in a good enough mood when the Jovian senshi arrived at the gates.  She had informed Lita that her brother was indeed still alive before tapping the brunette on the head to let the information of what had happed over the years she had been gone flow into her mind.  Then she had cheerfully given the brown haired senshi a new set of clothes and pushed her out of the time realm.  

Lita looked herself over and let the corners of her mouth tip upward for the first time since her Princess had died.  She was dressed in a black button up shirt with a white tank top underneath.  Wearing black slacks that hung loose at the bottom but tighter up around her thighs, her feet were encased in a pair of black, leather combat boots while her hair trailed down her back in the braid she had tied it in earlier.  The only pieces of jewelry that the Princess of Jupiter was another gift from the time senshi.  A sliver necklace held an oval emerald with the signia of Jupiter etched on the front in gold.  The clasp holding the pendent in place, however, was a silver moon.  The time senshi had cheerfully informed Lita that her new transformation wand was hidden inside.  All she had to do was say the words and she would transform.  The best part?  It would disappear while she transformed but could never be taken off by mortal hands.  On the middle finger of her left hand, she wore a silver ring with gold lighting bolts etched on each side.  The top contained a rose, made out of the same unbreakable crystal as her earrings.

Zipping up her bag, Lita threw it in her sub space pocket and headed out the door to check out and begin her search.  

Duo Maxwell, the self proclaimed God of Death was bored.  He was very bored.  And that was a very bad thing to all creatures within a ten mile radius.  He glanced at the Chinese boy sitting across from him for a moment and tried to decide if being bored was a worth all the aggravation he was causing Wufei by just sitting there.  The Nataku pilot couldn't decide what Maxwell was up to and it was driving him even crazier than if the pilot had just done something.  Anything.  Duo glanced at his watch and then at the ceiling.  And then at the calendar on his watch again before sitting up quickly and swearing.

Wufei glanced up from his book as he saw that the braided boy had sat up, an incredibly broken look crossing his features.  He opened his mouth to comment when the Duo got up and walked out of the library door.  Shutting his mouth, Wufei sat still for a minute before putting down his book and following him out the door. 

"God damn it!"  Lita swore loudly as she heard a scream.  She had her henshin necklace in her hand before she realized there wasn't any need for her to transform.  

One, there was no Princess to protect.  

Two, there shouldn't be any type of mythical evil minions for her to fight.  

Cursing again, she put her necklace back where it belonged and took off towards the scream.  There were other types of evil in the future she called her home-evils she would be glad to fight without the help of her senshi powers.  

Duo stopped dead in his tracks as he reached the alley where he had heard the scream.  A woman was being held by five men.  His muscles froze as he was thrown back into his memories. 

Flashback

"DUO!"  Makoto's frantic voice called out.  "DUO, RUN!"  

"LITA!!"  A panicked look crossed the face of a young boy.  "I won't leave you."

"Duo, go.  Get help.  Run and GET HELP!"  The girl struggled against the men holding her.  Duo took one last look at her before dodging between the legs of the man trying to capture him and running off in the direction of the Maxwell church.

End Flashback

He was jarred out of his memory when a girl with brown hair rushed passed him and into the shadows.  

"Yo!  Ugly!"  The girl's voice rang out and stopped the men.  

"Ohhhh.  Look.  Another chick to join the party."  One of the men sneered.  

"Let her go or deal with me."  When the men just laughed, she gave a cold smile and waited for them to rush her.  She wasn't disappointed.  Duo (and Wufei, who was hiding behind Duo) watched as she brought down all four that had attacked her in about ten minutes.  Duo snuck up behind the final one who was holding the girl and knocked him unconscious with the butt of his gun.  The woman immediately ran out the alleyway without a backward glance... or a thank you.  Duo stared at the other girl who was still cloaked in shadows.  

"I haven't had a fight like that in a long time."  She said, sounding both relieved and pleased.  "Thanks for the help, by the way."  

"Not a problem."  The braided boy flashed his trademark smile.  "My name is Duo Maxwell.  I may run and hide, but I never lie."  He was startled when the girl stiffened for a minute before collapsing in laughter.  

"Oh God!  Do you always say that in introduction?"  When he looked at her in confusion, she stood up and stepped into the light.  "Name's Lita Trio.  I try not to run or hide... occasionally I do lie though."  Before she could blink, Duo had pulled a gun on her.  In a voice that reminded Wufei of Heero on the edge, Duo spoke.  

"Who are you and how do you know about Lita?"

"I'm Lita and I know about her because I am her."  The girl seemed to think for a minute.  "D-boy."  

"Nice try."  Duo's voice got hard and emotionless.  "But my sister's dead."

"No, I'm not."  When the gun didn't move, she sighed.  "God damn it, Duo.  I didn't die.  I'm alive, I'm your sister."

"Then maybe you want to explain to me why they found your body bound, broken and raped a week after you disappeared.  They had a positive id.  It was a year before the Maxwell massacre."  

"The Maxwell massacre that I was told you died in after I finished..."  'Shit.  I can't exactly tell him that Pluto told me of the Maxwell massacre after I tried to get her to let my go home after Choas.'  

"After what?"

"After I remembered who I was."  'Not a complete lie,' she thought.  'I did forget that I was Lita Trio for a while.  I became too much of Kino Makoto.'  When her brother still didn't look swayed, she swore softly.  "Duo, iit was the first Wednesday of the month.  In the spring.  We had a pact to always make time and go for a picnic, even if it was freezing.  We made it before we joined up with Solo and the gang.  I promised it to you.  So we went, even though it was too late for lunch and too early for dinner-and it was so damn cold.  They came out of nowhere.  There were three.  Two grabbed me, but you were so much smaller.  As I remember, they caught me by the braid.  You didn't have one then.  I told you to run.  I told you to run and get help for me."

"And I ran.  I should have stayed.  I should have-"

"You were only ten years old, Duo!"  She shook her head.  "I was thirteen.  I made a promise to Solo that I would take care of you.  You were my little brother I would have gladly given my life for you, I still will.  But Duo, you have to understand that you were so young."

"So were you."  His voice was soft.  

"D-boy."  She rose.  "I was saved from anything those men could have done to me by a woman.  She gave me a new name when I woke up and a new past.  I became that person.  I forgot about being Lita Trio and when I thought you died, I gave my life day and night to protecting a woman who meant the world to everyone.  But then she died because of-"  Lita took a breath.  "She died.  And I found out that you weren't dead.  And I came back."  She thought of her life as Sailor Jupiter, the "friends" she had lied to, but especially how she had lied to her Princess.  A Princess, a friend that would never know the truth about her.  A Princess that was dead.  And she felt fresh grief well up in her throat.  "I'm back.  There's nothing holding me to that life now.  I-" her next words took all of her training as a senshi, a warrior honed to kill evil for her oath to protect her princess.  

"I can understand if you don't want me in the life you've built for yourself.  I'll understand.  But I want you to know I'm still here.  And I love you."  Her eyes flickered with and indefinable emotion before she walked past him.  The gun hung limply in his hand now, his eyes were glazed.  As she was passing, she took off her ring and placed it in his pocket.  Her days on the streets and the skills she had picked up never left her and not even her able brother felt the drop of the ring.  

The light seemed too bright after the dimness of the alleyway.  She passed by the area Wufei was in and turned to him.  His eyes widened as she spoke, no one should have been able to see him. 

"Take care of him, please.  I can feel that you care about his welfare.  Tell him to check his pocket at some point, I'll be around."  She smiled.  "If he's as good with a computer as he used to be, he can find me." She spared one look back down the alleyway and fought down the tears.  "Take care of him if he doesn't."  

Wufei silently listened to this woman, who's aura was a crackling green tinged with silver, an aura that was puree, strong, and, at the moment, very hurt and very, very alone.  This onna wasn't weak, her eyes held wisdom… and pain.  Wufei wanted to call out to her, to tell her it would work out.  He frowned over that.  She was, after all, just another woman.  But the quiet strength of her touched him.  Je hadn't known anyone like her since Merrian died.  Before he could work up the words, she was gone.  He looked down the alley to the normally cheerful boy.  And saw the same desolation and hurt.  He sighed at stepped out of hiding.  This wasn't going to be easy.  

TBC


	3. Deciding

Author: Fate's Child (Terra Brooks)  
Date: December 5, 2001  
E-mail: Prncss_Earth@hotmail.com  
  
Going Home and Finding Serenity  
  
The sound of footsteps caused Duo to whirl around, the gun coming back up towards whoever approached him. He lowered it when he saw it was Wufei.   
  
"Maxwell-" Duo held up a hand.   
  
"Don't." Before Wufei could even open his mouth again, Duo ran out of the alley at an amazing speed. By the time that Wufei shook off his surprise and got to the front of the alley, Duo had disappeared into the crowd. Sighing, Wufei placed his hands in his pockets and started towards Quatre's mansion.   
  
***  
  
It was almost midnight before Duo opened the door. He had thought about what to do all day and couldn't come to a decision. He loved his sister and his first thought was to find her and hug the life out of her. But his second was anger, hurt that she had waited this long. It had been almost ten years! She was hiding so much from him. His third reaction was fear. Yes, he, a Gundam pilot, was afraid. Because he might lose her again. And he might lose her because of what he was doing. What he had agreed to do to protect the colonies. But that had been before he had known that she was alive. Before, she had-  
  
"Duo, you okay?" Quatre's quiet voice came from the top of the stairs.   
  
"Yeah, fine Q-man." He tried to muster up a grin, but failed. "No. No, I'm not okay. But I'll be fine. I always am." Before the blond boy could respond, he walked into the library. And straight into Wufei.   
  
"Duo," the use of his actual name caused him not to snap at Wufei like he had earlier in the day. Instead his voice was weary.   
  
"Don't tell me Wufei. You can't believe that the braided baka is crying, worrying over a stupid onna. Yeah, that's right, Wufei, I cried." His anger drained as he sat down in one of the plush chairs. He almost jumped when Wufei spoke.   
  
"I cried. When Merrian died, I cried." His voice was a soft, sad tone Duo had never heard before. "That's when I decided it was weak to cry. Crying doesn't change anything. Merrian is still dead." He crouched down and looked at Duo in the eyes. "I didn't let myself feel until I met you guys. You became my family when I would have... I wouldn't have survived without you guys helping. And if Merrian walked into the room, or ran into an alley, I would have a lot of questions. But a long time ago, before I closed myself down, I had something unbreakable with her. I think it's the same with family. But whatever it is, it's worth a try." Wufei stood to go, almost embarrassed about what he had shared.   
  
"I'm afraid, Wufei. Because what if OZ finds her and hurts her? What if because of all the things I've done in my past, she'll hate me? I'm not an eleven year old boy now! I've done things, killed people that didn't necessarily know they were working for the wrong side. She'd hate me." The last part was whispered. Wufei shook his head and came to a decision.   
  
"Maxwell," his tone was hard, the sympathetic friend from before was gone. "That onna in the alleyway was strong. She was also hurt and alone. You are her family. From the sound of things, she wants to protect you from her as much as you want to protect her from you. She left a message. To check your pocket. She also told me to tell you that if you were as good with a computer as you used to be that you could find her." He said the last part with a raised eyebrow.   
  
"I used to hack. She taught me." Duo shrugged. "I guess that's why I stopped. Reminded me of her." He stood up and opened his mouth to thank the Chinese boy, but he was alone in the room.   
  
***  
  
Lita had been walking aimlessly for the past day. The sun had set and rose again hours ago, but she just kept walking. Part of it was to get herself acclimated to the city, but the other part was to get her mind off of her brother. Her mind was clogged with all the things she wished she could tell him. About being a senshi, a friend to a Princess who was so full of life, anyone would have died for her. But she couldn't. Her eyes glazed as she thought about the conversation she had with Pluto before coming back to this dimension.   
  
Flashback   
  
"Everything that happened to you in the last ten years can never be repeated unless you somehow find Serenity again, Jupiter." The use of her title warned her that what the time senshi was vital to the conservation of the time stream.   
  
"Not even my brother?"   
  
"Not even your brother." Pluto's voice was stern. "If I don't think that you can keep this secret, Lita, I will take your memories." Fear lanced through the Jovian senshi and made her voice hard.   
  
"No. You have my word as a Princess and a senshi. I will never speak of my service to Princess Serenity of the Moon and Sun kingdom unless I meet with her again." Suddenly weary, Lita smiled at the senshi of Pluto. "What will happen to the rest of the senshi?" Pluto gave a sad smile in return.   
  
"They will learn to live their lives without the Princess in them. And without you. There will be many hardships ahead, but when the time is right, everything will be alright again. Give me your transformation wand." Confused at the change in topics, Lita did as she was asked. In a flash of light, the wand disappeared and only a pendant remained.   
  
End Flashback   
  
Lita was brought out of her thoughts as she bumped into a warm body. Looking up, she was surprised to find hard cobalt eyes. She pulled her hand away from where it had landed on his side and opened her mouth to apologize but before she could talk, the dampness on her hand registered. She looked down to find her fingertips covered with blood.   
  
"Damn, you're bleeding." She looked up and watched him sway slightly. She ducked under his arm and started supporting his body with hers. "Let's get you to a hospital." She stopped when she felt the violent shake of his head. "No?" She frowned and mumbled that it was a stupid idea under her breath-in Japanese. So imagine her surprise when he responded in the same language.   
  
"Iie. Bioen e ikimasen!" Then as an afterthought, he added, "Omae o korosu!" She smiled slightly and returned to English.   
  
"I won't take you to a hospital if you don't want to. And you can kill me when you've got your strength up again. But for now, I'm going to take you to the apartment I rented the other day and I am going to administer whatever first aid knowledge I can remember to that wound in your side and pray to whatever deity there is that you don't die."  
  
"Why do you care what happens to me? I'm a soldier, I cause death in numbers." His eyes had started to cloud and Lita realized that she was close to losing him to unconsciousness. She frowned and took a little bit more of his weight, mentally trying to figure out how far it was to the little apartment she had rented before finding Duo the previous day. A thought suddenly occurred to her. She shoved him away from her slightly.   
  
"Are you an OZ soldier?" The rage in her voice cut through the fog in his brain.   
  
"No." He winced in pain as her hand grazed his side when she tried to support him again. Some part of his brain realized that he wasn't acting like a soldier. He wasn't acting like the perfect soldier. His mind was too hazy to process the information though. "I work for the good guys," he mumbled before finally fainting into the strange girl's arms.  
  
"Shit." Lita looked up to the sky and where she imagined Pluto was watching her from the Time Gates. "Nothing is ever easy."   
  
TBC...  
  
Iie! Beoen e ikimasen! - No! I won't go to a hospital!  
  
Wow, there's three pages for ya. I should have a new chapter out every few days, probably have them getting longer because it's almost Christmas break. Read and review and if you have the time or inclination, e-mail me at Prncss_Earth@hotmail.com  
Ja. 


	4. Searching...

Author: Fate's Child (Terra Brooks)  
Date: December 6, 2001  
E-mail: Prncss_Earth@hotmail.com  
  
Going Home and Finding Serenity  
  
It had been two long nights before the boy's fever came down. Lita was amazed that for all the medical advancement they had, they couldn't bring down a damn fever and keep it down. Of course, it could have to do some with the fact that she had used her powers to heal him a bit because of the amount of blood he'd lost. The power coursing through his veins could be counteracting with the pills. But he was going to be okay. Lita frowned as the boy shifted and raised her hand to check his temperature again when his eyes opened and he grabbed her wrist.   
  
"Omae o korosu." It was said in such a calm, emotionless voice, that she smiled slightly.   
  
"You've threatened to kill me, maim me, and personally escort me down to hell. I don't care if you're awake, your threats have lost some of their merit." She smiled again before asking, "are you awake enough to tell me your name?"   
  
"Yui Heero." She nodded her head.   
  
"I'm Kino Makoto. It's a pleasure to meet you, although I wish it were under different circumstances. I do remember telling me you could try and kill me after you'd healed, but you're not all the way there yet." When he continued to glare at her, she sighed. "If your adamant about doing something, your clothes are cleaned and on the chair over there. The phone is next to the bed on your right and if you need or want them, the pain killers are next to the bottle of water on your left." She stood and left the room. "Good day, Mr. Yui."   
  
Heero watched her leave, puzzled at her behavior. She hadn't asked any questions, hadn't tried to get him to stay. He remembered waking quite a few times only to have her tell him he was safe. And he would drift back off to sleep. It didn't matter what he had said-and from the sound of it, he said more than he should have-she never left his side, never acted disgusted, and now, never even asked questions. The only question he remembered her asking was if he was an OZ soldier. And she had pushed him away when she thought he was.   
  
Quickly putting on his clothes, he looked around for his gun and swore when he couldn't find it. His head still felt like it had a million Duo's running around and so he swallowed the pills she had left him before walking out of the room. He frowned before opening the door. He would have to kill her. She knew too much. Struggling, for the first time since he had started being the 'perfect soldier', over a simple death made him angry and he slammed open to door only to find her gone.   
  
One the kitchen table, there was a note-sitting next to his gun. Curious, he picked up the gun and stuck it back it its place before reading the note. He was surprised to find it was in Japanese.   
  
Yui-san-  
I do not wish to die today, I still have to work things out with my brother. You are welcome to try and kill me another time, I will appreciate the challenge. But today is not the day. You are welcome to anything you can find in the apartment (clothes, food, etc.) and if you want, you may stay for a few more days. I am off to do the errands I missed while tending to you. (don't frown, I didn't mean that you were a burden, I just meant that- never mind) three days have passed since I found you and you are undoubtedly needed somewhere else. May Kami protect you.   
  
Makoto.   
  
Heero stared in shock at the letter before looking around the room. Shaking his head, he left to find out just how far from Quatre's he was.   
  
***  
  
Lita watched from the balcony as Heero left her apartment. She smiled softly to herself. She knew that he would want to leave and really had no intention or inclination to try his threat on killing her. She slid back into the apartment as silently as she had left and lay down on the couch. Pulling a blanket up to her chin, she fell asleep for the first time in days. Tomorrow she would move again.   
  
***  
  
It turned out that "Makoto's" apartment was only a fifteen-minute walk to Quatre's mansion. But it was long enough for Heero who wasn't 100% yet. He slipped past the gate and leaned on the doorframe to catch his breath before opening the door and walking into the house. He made his way to the library and stopped dead in his tracks.   
  
***  
  
Duo sat in the library, ignoring the surprised expressions of his fellow pilots as he typed quickly on the laptop in front of him. One of the windows on his screen was scanning for information on the missing Gundam pilot while the other was devoted to looking for Lita. He didn't even turn around as he heard the click of a gun, but shut down the search for Heero.   
  
"Omae o-"  
  
"Not now, Heero, I'm busy." The muttered comment caused the pilot's eyes widened in surprise. Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei all turned to look at the normally stoic boy.   
  
"Why is he on my computer." It wasn't asked as a question, more like an order for them to tell him what his laptop was doing out of his hands and room.   
  
"It's his." Trowa responded. "He said he's had it tucked away for a while."   
"Heero, what happened? We were starting to get worried about you." The concerned expression on Quatre's face and in his voice made Heero answer.   
  
"Hn." Heero looked at Quarte's face again and mentally sighed. "I got shot." He lifted up the side of his shirt to show them the bandage. "A woman took me home after bumping into me on the street. She took care of me for a while."  
  
"Who was she?" Trowa asked.   
  
"She said her name was Kino Makoto. She spoke Japanese-" He almost jumped back as Duo stopped typing and turned around. The normally cheerful boy looked like he hadn't slept in days.  
  
"She said what?"   
  
"Her name was Kino Makoto. Makoto Kino in English." He hid his surprise when Duo turned around again and started typing while muttering under his breath. He stopped suddenly and swore, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a ring and groaned in dismay as he looked at it.   
  
"Maxwell, if Yui knows where the onna is why don't you just have him take you there." Duo turned around and smiled slightly.   
  
"Because if a soldier knew where she lived, she would have moved already. She wouldn't stay in a place where she could possibly be in danger before hearing my answer. She doesn't trust anyone. Or at least she didn't used to." He frowned and looked at the ring before glaring at Wufei. "You could have reminded me again to look in my pocket. This ring could have saved me a lot of time."   
  
"Why is that ring so special?" Quatre asked, walking over to look at it. His eyes widened in surprise as Duo handed him the ring. The ring itself was worth a small fortune. It was silver, real silver with gold lighting bolts etched on the sides. On the very top was a rose, pinkish red in color, and glazed over so that the rose quartz it was made out of would never be damaged.   
  
"I gave her that ring. Along with a pair of rose earrings made out of quartz. I was maybe eight years old. Lita was ten. Or was turning ten. It was her birthday. We didn't have any money but she always managed to find me a gift. I thought I was old enough to get her one. I was ready to steal one for her." Duo's voice got quiet. The rest of the pilots listened in rapt attention. Duo hardly ever talked about his life before the Maxwell church. "I was picking out a target when a lady sat next to me. I was surprised, and stopped looking long enough to look up. She had long black hair with green highlights in it. She asked me what I was doing." Duo smiled slightly. "I told her it was none of her business."  
  
Flashback  
  
"Well, your sister will be worried about you." The woman's voice was soft and kind. Duo looked up at her suspiciously.   
  
"I can't go home yet." The woman seemed to think something over before putting her hand in her pocket.   
  
"I'll tell you a story if you promise to never tell anyone that you saw me." She waited until Duo nodded. "A long time ago, there was a Princess of a planet far, far away from here. Well," she looked thoughtful. "Maybe not so far.  
  
"This Princess was kind and loving. She had the biggest garden in the universe and a family that loved her very much. She was loyal and strong. And her younger brother adored her. So on her tenth birthday, when this Princess was going to leave her home to go protect a friend of hers, her younger brother gave her a pair of earrings to remember him by. They were made of a crystal that couldn't be broken. And the Princess wore them always.   
  
"When she grew up, she was maybe sixteen, the Princess fell in love. And the first person she told was her brother. Her brother was both very happy for her and very sad because this meant that he would get to see her less and less that he had before. She smiled when he told her this and gave him a ring to symbolize her love for him, her brother. It had a rose to match the ones in her ears.   
  
"His sister never got to marry her love. He was killed by the same people that later killed her. And her brother put the ring she had given him on her finger and promised revenge for her- and the man she had loved, the man he had come to love like a brother."  
  
"What happened to the brother?" Duo asked, clearly enthralled by the story.   
  
"He died later that day. But he fought bravely. But do not cry for them, you see, a happy ending there shall be. In another time and space, they were reborn. And everyone, in the end, will live happily ever after. Just you wait and see." And the woman rose, walking into the crowded street before disappearing.   
  
End Flashback   
  
"There was a pair of earrings and this ring in my pocket along with a piece of paper. It said that that the Princess name was Makoto. So I went home or where we were sleeping that night and gave Lita the earrings. The next year I gave her the ring and told her the story. She laughed and promised me she's wear them always." Duo glared at Wufei. "And if SOMEONE had reminded me to look in my pocket I would have known what name she was using!" Duo turned back to the computer and kept typing, once again ignoring the shocked looks on his friend's faces. He also ignored when the doorbell rang and the sound of shoes walking to the library. He couldn't ignore what came next though, the amused voice that had his hands still over the keyboard.   
  
TBC  
  
See, I'm making good on my promise to have a chapter out every few week days. I hurt so bad though. It was my brother's birthday this weekend and he decided to go snowboarding. I've never been snowboarding. You do the math. Anyway, reviews get you more chapters.   
  
Ja   
  
Ash-ri Terraline Ran Brooks (Fate's Child) 


	5. Remembering

Author: Fate's Child (Terra Brooks)  
Date: December 10, 2001  
E-mail: Prncss_Earth@hotmail.com  
  
"You know, I think fate's trying to tell you something, D-boy." He turned around.   
  
"Lita?" He stood. What are you doing here?" She held up a paper.   
  
"Someone took out an ad for a part time chef. I cook as a hobby so I thought I'd check it out. Never thought it would lead me to you. Or you, Mr. Yui."   
  
"Then Duo is your brother." Lita nodded.   
  
"I'm Quatre Raberba Winner and I took out that ad." Quatre stepped forward.   
  
"This is Trowa Barton and Wufei Chang, you seem to know everyone else."  
  
"My name is Lita Trio. Or Makoto Kino, depending on who you ask." Lita looked pointedly at Heero. "Duo, if you want me to leave, I will." Her voice softened.   
  
"Leave?! No way! I've been trying to find you for the past three days." He threw himself at her and picked her up, swinging her around the room. She laughed as he put her down.   
  
"I'm glad!" She threw her arms around him and hugged him tight before pulling on his braid. "What is this?" Duo looked sheepish.   
  
"It was my way of remembering you." She raised an eyebrow.   
  
"By growing a braid?" When he nodded, she pulled her own over her shoulder. "Mine looks better." When he nodded again, she laughed and turned to the rest of the boys. Quatre was looking at her and then Duo, her and Duo again.   
  
"You mean there was a time when Duo didn't have a braid?" Lita laughed.   
  
"Yup. Wanna see a picture?" She pulled the worn photograph out of her bag. Her mistake was that another fell with it. This was one of her and the rest of the senshi in civilian forms, even the outers. Usagi had snapped the photo when they weren't looking and then given each of them a copy. On the back was written the words:   
  
In a world that's so uncertain, I will promise this to you. I'll be the one to hear your prayers, don't have to ask me, I'll be there, I'll be the friend you'll never have to do without. If you've got nothing at all, you still have nothing to worry about.   
  
Lita picked up the photo quickly and shoved it back in her purse before anyone could pick it up. She thrust the other photo out. It was the one of her and Duo standing together, her giving him bunny ears. And he had short hair.   
  
"Maxwell, you look like a boy in this picture." Wufei sounded surprised. Duo stuck out his tongue at the other boy who began to chase him around the room with his katana. Lita just raised an eyebrow before turning to Quatre.   
  
"You still need a chef?"   
  
"Are you still interested?" She nodded.   
  
"I didn't add one thing. You'd be coming to earth with us. I have a place by the Sank kingdom and that's where we're heading. To go to school at the Peacecraft Academy." Lita smiled.   
  
"Wherever Duo goes, I go." She had to work to keep her balance as he ran and hid behind her, grabbing onto her arms.   
  
"Save me Trio!" She looked to find Wufei two feet in front of her with his katana still drawn.   
  
"Maxwell, this is an injustice! Stop hiding behind that weak onna!" Lita's eyes turned icy and Duo felt the way her body tightened at his words. Heero raised an eyebrow as he saw her fists clench.   
  
"Weak onna?" Her voice was cold and hard. "I have a name, Mr. Chang. Use it. You may call me Lita or Trio but you will never call me onna. And you will never again call me weak." She paused. "Is that understood?" When he said nothing, she continued. "If you call me weak again, I will have to prove how strong I really am. So don't push me." Wufei nodded stiffly before bowing and sheathing his katana.   
  
"It was a force of habit. It will not happen again." The pilots all looked at the Chinese boy incredulously. Lita just nodded before relaxing again. Duo looked at her in concern.   
  
"You okay?"  
  
"Fine, D-boy. I don't want to talk about it." She added when he opened his mouth.   
  
"I'm hungry." His complaint drew groans from the rest of the boys. Lita just smiled.   
  
"I'll cook as a trial run if anyone is interested?" When the rest of the boys nodded, Quatre led Lita to the kitchen. Everyone else looked at Duo.   
  
"What did your sister do while she was missing?" Heero asked.   
  
"I don't know. I haven't asked her. But if she won't tell me, I won't push her." Duo looked serious. "I'm already taking a big risk involving her in a fight she doesn't know she's getting into. I won't make her tell me her past when I can't tell her mine." The rest of the pilots nodded and headed towards the kitchen. Duo walked over to where his computer was, shutting it down and slipping the ring on his finger. It fit like it had been made for him. He stared at it for a minute before sighing and heading off to the kitchen to find his sister.   
  
***  
  
"When was the last time any of you did any laundry?" Lita's exasperated voice drifted down the hall, making the pilots smile although some hid it.  
  
Lita had been there exactly three days and was already acting like the mother none of them had ever known. She had cooked them lunch and then cleaned the house from top to bottom. Because Duo wouldn't let her leave, Quatre offered her the guest room and then told her that she was welcome to stay with them until the moved to earth. She just smiled and agreed, thanking him quietly. She had gotten into their rooms today and picked up all the dirty laundry on the floor. Apparently, there was a lot.   
  
"Quatre is the ONLY one with clean clothes and only ONE pair on the floor." She paced the floor and glared at each one of them, except Quatre. They were seated on the couch in the living room listening to her rant.   
  
"Li-"  
  
"Don't even talk, Kenneth! I taught you better then that." All the pilots looked at the red faced Duo. She saw this and broke out laughing. "You actually thought his real name was Duo?"   
  
"Kenneth?" Wufei looked like he was ready to burst with laughter. Even Heero had a small smile on his face. Not that anyone could see it.   
  
"As I was saying." Lita held up three pairs of clothes, ripped and bloodied from bullet holes and scrapes. "These are unacceptable. Are you ever going to wear these again? No. Because they're ruined. So don't leave them on the floor! Throw them away. Got that? Throw. Them. Away." All the boys looked surprised that she held them up and asked no questions about them. "And I am making a new rule. You will leave your dirty clothes in the basket in your bathroom and I will clean them every Tuesday."  
  
"Ms. Lita, you won't have to once we're on earth. There will be others to take care of that." She glared at Quatre.   
  
"Lita. Just Lita. And until we get to earth, you will all put your clothes in the baskets? Is that clear?"   
  
"Crystal." Duo chirped. Then he looked at her seriously. "Lita, about the clothes-" she waved a hand to get him to stop talking.   
  
"When I met Heero, he told me that he was a soldier. So I assume that all of you are too. As long as you are not working for OZ or trying to take over the world or universe, I don't have a problem with it. I fought too for a little, so I know that you can't talk about what you do or have see, or don't want to. My place is to be for you here, now and to cook for the rest of you. I don't care what you've done in the past." She picked up the bloodied clothes and threw them at her brother. "Now for Kami's sake, throw those away!" The rest of the boys watched as she walked out of the room, mumbling under her breath about them being worse then someone called Usagi. Herro raised an eyebrow at that. Why would she be comparing them to a bunny?   
  
***  
  
Lita lay in bed that night, a smile on her face as she thought of her brother and his friends. They reminded her so much of the senshi. There was Duo, who reminded her of a cross between herself and Minako, Wufei who screamed Rei, Trowa had that quiet intelligence that of Ami and Quatre reminded her of Usagi and her empathic abilities. Heero Yui was a puzzle all in himself, though. He held part of himself from the rest of the group a little like she did when with the senshi. He had a quiet strength that reminded her of the outer senshi, though. It was like he'd always be there when you needed him but it would take a long time to get him to trust you. She sighed and got out of bed, wincing as her feet hit the cold floor. She wasn't going to get any sleep right then, not when her mind was filled with thinking of the friends she left behind.   
  
She made her way quietly down to the music room, picking up the guitar in the corner. No one but the outer senshi knew she could play. Her fingers found the cords she sought quick enough and she started to play whatever came to mind. Slowly, words bubbled in her throat and she began to sing.   
  
When I walked through the portal,   
And left this life behind.   
I thought that all the love in the world  
Couldn't fill this gap of mine  
And then I was walking  
Going on my way to school  
And I saw a bunch of bullies  
Who thought you were a fool.  
So I saved you from them   
And you saved me from me.   
I walked each day with you by my side.  
  
You were a friend I never thought I'd have,   
You lead me to the rest.  
When everything felt like it was dead,   
You showed me it was in rest.   
When my world collapsed   
You were there for me  
Although you never asked me why.   
You were the light,   
In all of our lives.  
Now that you're gone;  
How can we survive.   
  
In a world that's so uncertain,   
You had promised this to us,  
That you'd be the one to hear our prayers  
We wouldn't have to ask you, you'd be there,   
You were the friend we'd never have to do without,   
No,   
Now we've got nothing at all,   
And you're not here to worry about.   
  
You are a friend I never thought I'd have,   
You lead me to the rest.  
When everything felt like it was dead,   
You showed me it was in rest.   
When my world collapsed   
You were there for me  
Although you never asked me why.   
You were the light,   
In all of our lives.  
Now that you're gone;  
How can we survive.   
  
Oblivious to the tears that were making their way down her cheeks, Lita played with every piece of her soul. The room seemed to melt away from her as she replayed in her mind her meeting with the Usagi, the one girl who wasn't afraid to face the 'karate maniac'. The one girl who became her first real friend. As her mind came to the last battle, she dropped the guitar, falling from her seat on a stool to the floor, sobs racking her body.   
  
Flashback  
  
Makoto had gotten the call through the communicator at exactly 8:30 in the evening. She had been mixing the batter for a cake when Usagi called.   
  
"Mako-chan, there's a youma right in front of the O.S.A.P. Naru and her mother are inside on the third floor so I want to take care of this quick. No one else is answering their communicators, they're on dates or something and Ami is working. It's up to us." Makoto was already running out the door while Usagi talked, her transformation wand in her hand and the words said as she dashed down the street.   
  
"The outers are still in Europe and there hasn't been an attack in a few months, but we've been training, Moon. We can do this." Jupiter shut her communicator and in a minute was standing next to Sailor Moon.   
  
"It looks like a human with tentacles. It has the power of electricity and so it shouldn't affect you." Moon told her. Usagi had grown up a lot since Galexia and Chaos, since her Mamo-chan had never been found.   
  
"It looks like a youma. The kind we fought while battling Beryl."  
  
"Which I why I'm calling a senshi meeting for later today. If you try and distract it, and watch out for the knives it's shooting, I can scepter it." Jupiter nodded and jumped out in front of the youma.   
  
"Yo! Squid man! Looking for a fight?" When the youma shot electricity at her, she dodged more out of habit then anything. She shot off her own thunder dragon and watched as the youma screamed in pain. It wasn't immune to electricity like she was. Good. She continued to shoot off her attacks and somewhere between hers Moon launched her spiral moon heartache. The big pink heart hit the youma dead on. Jupiter let down her guard for a minute and was surprised when the knife caught her dead in the stomach. Another hit her shoulder as she tried to move out of the way. It was still alive. Gritting her teeth and ignoring Moon's distressed cries, she pulled both knifes out of her body and gathered energy in her hand.   
  
"SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!" The attack hit the youma followed by another of moon's attacks. It finally dissolved into a thin powder before blowing away in the wind. Jupiter nodded in satisfaction before falling to her knees.   
  
"Jupiter, hold on. We'll get you to the hospital." Moon laid her friend on the ground and fought back tears as she looked at the extent of her friend's wounds. "Hold on, I'll heal you." Moon pulled out the crystal.   
  
"No. You put in multiple attacks and it might not work anyway. I gladly give my life for you, Usagi, Serenity. Because you were my first friend. And the best." Jupiter lost her transformation and winced at the multiplied feeling of pain in her civilian form. "Just tell Pluto to give the ring to Duo. She'll know what it means." Jupiter smiled and closed her eyes, fighting back the blackness that was clouding her vision. A minute later it cleared, leaving a white, warm light surrounding her. She tried to open her mouth, to tell Usagi to stop before she killed herself, but the Princess kept pouring out the energy. A few minutes later, it disappeared and Makoto felt a weight fall on her. She sat up, putting the now detransformed senshi's head in her lap.   
  
"Couldn't let you die." The soft words caused tears to come to Makoto's eyes.   
  
"Usagi, damn it! You have to make it."  
  
"Going to be with Mamo-chan. Maybe I can love him more now, like I always wanted to." Usagi closed her eyes and smiled serenely. "You were always the most loyal. Never doubted me. Ever. And that ring, you have to give it to Double or whatever their name is. Live, Mako-chan. Live and love. Don't let destiny hold you in like I did. Never loved Mamoru." Her voice was soft now. "Never love him. Loved you though. Loved all the senshi. You were the bestest friend. Love you tons. So sleepy." Makoto bit on her lip to keep the sob from escaping as she felt her Princess's body go limp. A minute later, silver stars of light covered the body, causing it to disappear. Her last words seem to hang in the air. 'Love you tons.' Kino Makoto, senshi of Jupiter clutched the material above her heart and cried.   
  
End Flashback  
  
"Oh kami. Oh kami, not again, not again." In her distress, Lita had reverted to speaking in Japanese again. "Don't let me see her die again, not again." She never noticed the arms that went around her, the soothing motion of a hand moving over her head. "Not again, please not again." This time it was a whisper, a plea. "Why did she die, why did I let her die? I should have been stronger, should have done something. Not again, kami-sama, don't let me see her die again." Her words died off and only broken sobs remained as she curled against a warm body and kept seeing her world collapse.   
  
TBC  
  
You know, this was supposed to be a happy fic. But I think I made myself cry. Oh well, the ending will be happy when I finally get there. Talk to you all later. Oh. FYI I made up the song only using the lyrics from a sailor moon song in the third verse. I changed them slightly. 


	6. No Regrets.

A.N. ----  
Oh my god, you guys have no idea how much grief I am giving myself over taking so damn long to get these new chapters out. Especially because I already had them written. Here's my list of excuses:  
1. They took my computer away… they had to re-image it and when that didn't work, they sent it away and replaced the mother board. Something about a fried mother board.   
2. When they gave it back four days ago (yes, it took me 3 ½ weeks to get it back) I tried to upload the chapters and it said "Uploading an empty document". I tried a bunch of different things and in the end I had to RETYPE EVERYTHING!!! So now I'm in English class and typing this before I upload the chapters.   
  
Wufei: Onna, shouldn't you be listening to your scary onna teacher?  
  
Shut up or I'm putting you in a dress.  
  
Wufei: That's unfair, onna.  
  
Maybe if you stopped calling me Onna I wouldn't be forced to do devil things to you. ::smirk:: I have a name you know.   
  
Wufei: Yes yes, I know. Fate's Child. What kind of stupid onna name is-  
  
Chang Wufei, you shut up. I'm trying to apologize to my readers. Something you don't seem to understand. ::hits Wufei over the head with BIG, THICK disclaimer::   
  
Wufei: ::grumble:: I'm going to go train.  
  
::googles:: Sounds like Vegita. Anyway….. Okay, so I'm done with my excuses. But you guys should know that I am really really sorry. The next chapter after chapter 7 (b/c I'm uploading two today) will be LONG, like ten pages, and it will be out this weekend, I promise.   
  
Love you all and if someone would E-MAIL ME for ANY REASON I might have a prize for them.   
  
-Fate's Child (Terraline Ash-ri Ran Brooks)  
  
  
Author: Fate's Child (Terra Brooks)  
Date: December 11, 2001  
E-mail: Prncss_Earth@hotmail.com  
  
Heero Yui had been drawn out of bed because he couldn't get his mind off of the woman sleeping down the hall. She had disappeared for ten years and fought during some of them. Calling her weak struck a cord in her that turned her voice to ice and her eyes just as hard. She liked to cook and clean and was good at both and she loved her brother. That was all they knew about her. He couldn't even find anything on his computer about her and that's what frustrated him most. She had cared for him, healing him completely in a matter of days without taking him to the hospital and didn't ask questions about bloody clothes. He ran his hand through his hair and made his way to the kitchen. A few minutes later, he heard the haunting cords of a guitar drift from the music room. Making his way towards the room, he leaned on the doorframe and listened to the piece of music and the words the girl sang.   
  
It was a song that captured the pain of someone who had ever lost a loved one, every guilty conscience come to life. It was the embodiment of pain and love, of grief so large it welled up inside and threatened to drown you. The song ended abruptly and he heard the guitar hit the ground. He peeked around the door and saw her fall to the ground, tears running down her cheeks and sobs racking her body. He stood at the door for a minute, unsure of what to do before walking in and gathering her up in his arms, rocking her back and forth, running his hand over her hair in what he thought would be a soothing gesture.   
  
After a few minutes, her sobs stopped and her shattered voice reached his ears in a language that he hadn't spoken since meeting her.   
  
"Oh kami. Oh kami, not again, not again." In her distress, Lita had reverted to speaking in Japanese again. "Don't let me see her die again, not again. Not again, please not again." This time it was a whisper, a plea. "Why did she die, why did I let her die? I should have been stronger, should have done something. Not again, kami-sama, don't let me see her die again."   
  
Heero never stopped his rocking, but he closed his eyes as he heard her crushed words. In his own mind, he kept seeing the little girl with the puppy dying over and over again. He never noticed the tear that made it's way down his cheek.   
  
Hours passed and neither moved. Finally, Heero looked down and noticed that the girl on his lap had fallen asleep. He picked her up gently and brought her to her room, placing her under her covers. He stared down at her and made a decision. He would find out why this girl whose personality had touched them all was so lost and broken inside. Even if it meant acting human.   
  
YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW TEMPTED I AM TO STOP IT HERE. BUT IT WOULD BE MEAN CAUSE IT'S NOT EVEN A PAGE LONG. DAMN. OKAY, HERE'S MORE.   
  
  
Pounding on her door woke Lita from a dead sleep. Groggily opening her eyes, she looked around the room in confustion.   
  
"How the hell did I get into my bed?" she whispered. When the pounding didn't stop, she glared at the door. "What?"   
  
"You decent?" She smiled at her brother's voice.  
  
"Always." He bounced into the room before jumping up to sit on her bed. "How old are you?" She teased. He looked at her carefully before asking.   
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah." Lita ran a hand over her face. "Bad dreams. Don't worry about it. Did you want something?"  
  
"Only to tell you that Quatre had to change plans and we are leaving to go to the Sank kingdom tomorrow morning." Lita smiled.   
  
"Thanks." When her brother made no indication that he was going to move, she groaned and fell backward onto the bed. "What else?"  
  
"I had a question." Duo's voice was serious. "Why did you take Heero home with you?"  
  
"I was actually just going to drop him off at the nearest hospital. He told me not to-in Japanese. It reminded me of when I was someone else, when I was a soldier. So I took him home to heal his as a favor to the senshi I once was."   
  
"Senshi?"  
  
"Soldier, warrior, whatever you want to call what I was." Duo thought about her answer for a minute before opening his mouth again.   
  
"You having been a soldier makes this a little bit easier, Trio. I've done things that I'm not proud of. But I'd do them again because it was helping the people of the colonies and earth. I don't... I haven't come to terms with that yet, so I don't know if you can either. But I-" Duo stopped mid-sentence and looked down on the bed. Lita spoke up before he could open his mouth again.   
  
"I forgot who I had been for a long time, Duo. I can't tell you much about the life I led, but I can tell you this. I was so caught up in being this other person that I forgot all about being Lita Trio. Don't get me wrong, there wasn't a day that went by that I didn't think about you or what we could have been doing. But I prided myself on being the person I was then. And I made a life for myself because I didn't know if you were alive or not. But everything died less then a week ago. And I remembered, I remembered who I was. And I realized that I didn't want to be who I had been for the past ten years. Because it wasn't who I was, not completely. So I came to find you. I want you to know that there's always going to be a part of my I have to hold from you. So let's leave the past as the past and just concentrate on the future." She grabbed Duo into a hug and tried to hold back tears. "I missed you so much. I just want to make a place for me with you." Duo nodded and hugged her back.   
  
"I'm going to make you proud of me." Duo whispered.   
  
"I already am. Is that what you were afraid of? That I wouldn't be proud of you because you'd done questionable things? Duo, you forget who I am. I'm you sister and I don't exactly have a clean past either."  
  
"But-"  
  
"No buts. No more regrets." She waited until he nodded. "It's early so let's go make breakfast. Maybe I'll teach you how to cook. If I can teach Minako how to make a passable dish, I can certainly teach you." Duo jumped off the bed and headed downstairs, Lita at his heels.   
  
***  
  
Lita looked around the kitchen table at the boys that were seated there. None of them gave any indication that anything was different from the day before. She narrowed her eyes as she chewed on a piece of apple. She knew it hadn't been Duo. Quatre would have showed some emotion, some worry. So would Trowa. Wufei would have used it to tease her about something. Her eyes widened as they landed on the last member of the table. Heero. She had probably cried all over Heero Yui, the 'perfect soldier'. She had heard Duo call him such a few days ago. Her mind almost shut down in embarrassment when a beeping noise filled the room. Heero looked over to the counter and noticed that it was his laptop. He opened the screen and read the mission, clicking a few buttons in response. He looked up at the table and tilted his head in the direction of the library. The boys got up, making their way out of the room while Duo looked at Lita apologetically.   
  
"Don't worry about it, D-boy. I know you've got your own secrets." She winked before picking up her plate and the others and heading towards the kitchen. A minute later, she almost dropped the plate she was washing.   
  
"INJUSTICE!" Even through all of the walls and doors between the boys and her, she still hears Wufei's voice. "I WILL NOT ACCEPT!"   
  
Lita finished drying the plate she had in her hand and moved to the others. There was no more noise coming from the room. After she finished, she made her way to the small training room that Quatre had down the hall. Changing into the gi she kept in her space pocket, she began to warm up. Picking up a blindfold she tied it over her eyes and began a simple routine. After a few minutes, she felt a presence behind her. Not bothering to turn around, she kept moving.   
  
"Can I help you?"   
  
"Why do you blindfold yourself?" Wufei's question came from where she felt the presence.   
  
"Because one day, I might not be able to see in battle. I will use my other senses to fight. You know something about this." Without a warning, she turned and attacked the Chinese boy. He easily blocked her attack. "See? You're always ready. That's another part. Never let your guard down." Her voice came out hard. "Never." Wufei began to counter attack her punches and kicks.   
  
"You're telling me how to fight, onna? What would you know about always keeping up your guard?"  
  
"That I didn't. And I lost the person that meant the most to me. Wufei, I'm telling you this because you are taking care of the person that means the most to me now. Don't let anything happen to-"  
  
"Duo can take care of himself." They stopped talking as they kept attacking each other. Wufei landed a punch in her stomach, which was met with a kick to his head. A second later, Lita heard him unsheathe his katana. She flipped up and backwards, barely missing the blade. Out of her space pocket, she pulled out a long blade, a green handle adorned with a rose and lightning bolts. She ripped off her blindfold, no longer seeing a friendly match. Instead of seeing the young Chinese boy, she saw the youma that killed her friend.   
  
TBC 


	7. Making Relena Jealous

Author: Fate's Child (Terra Brooks)  
Date: December 11, 2001  
E-mail: Prncss_Earth@hotmail.com  
  
Wufei watched with curiosity as Lita's eyes went serious and flat. It reminded him of Heero's when he was on a mission. As her attacks began to come harder and faster, he shut down his mind, acting purely on instinct as he thrust and parried. They had no mercy and began to duck and roll, using different martial arts moves. Finally, after an hour of hard fighting, Lita's blade skimmed along his arm, drawing first blood. He hesitated for a moment expecting her to sheath her blade. Duels were usually played until first blood. He ducked out of the swing of her blade just in time and pulled his up when he realized she wasn't going to stop.   
  
His eyes widened in amazement as he realized that she wasn't even short of breath. Her eyes had taken on a feral glint that vaguely reminded Wufei of someone else though it took him a moment to figure out the other place he had seen the look. It had been on Quatre when he had first been exposed to the Zero system. There was murder in her eyes. He almost froze when he felt her energy signal go up a few notches. His hesitation cost him and when she brought her sword down this time it cut deeply into his leg. He couldn't mask his wince of pain.   
  
Lita's mind was blank except for one thought. 'Kill the youma'. Alarm bells had ceased ringing and her movements were born of instinct. Her sword cut deeply into the leg of her opponent and she saw him wince. 'Feel the pain you made me feel by killing her'. Triumph was in her mind as she prepared to make the lethal strike.   
  
'Princess, what do you think you are doing?' A soft voice filled her mind, making her loosen her grip on her weapon.   
  
'Your majesty?'   
  
'Princess Jupiter, my daughter's death was not your fault. It never was. It was in her nature to love you all to the point of giving her own life, just as you did for her. And it was needed-her death was needed-for her happiness. Do not let your anger and your hurt rule your life. It is not what she wants.'   
  
The silvery voice left her head and she shoved her sword back into her space pocket before dropping to her knees in front of the Nataku pilot.   
  
"Oh my god. What have I done?" She ignored the look on his face as she placed her hands over his wound and let her power flow out of her and into the wound. A few minutes later, it healed.   
  
Wufei was surprised when all of a sudden, she loosened her grip on her weapon and a few seconds later, put it back where she had pulled it from. She dropped to her knees in front of him and without looking in his eyes placed her hands over his wound. A girl light glowed for a minute and the next time he was able to look down, his wound was gone. Completely. It was as if it had never been there. He looked up to find her staring at him seriously.   
  
"I'm sorry. I should never have lost control. I-I wasn't seeing you. I was seeing an enemy that was already destroyed. But that still haunts my dreams."  
  
"Ghosts," Wufei said quietly, "have a way of never leaving the living at peace." She nodded silently and looked back at where his cut had been.   
  
"I have to ask you to never mention this. It is something that I cannot explain." Her eyes lifted to his again. "My honor rests on it. I gave my word I would never tell." Wufei nodded silently and stood, helping her to her feet. He bowed slightly and walked out of the room. Her eyes followed him to the door before dropping to her hands. There was still blood on them.   
  
"There's always blood on them." Her voice was soft. "No matter how far or hard I run, there'll always be blood on them." She let a soft sigh pass her lips before walking to the door and heading towards her room heedless of the eyes that watched her from the shadows.   
  
---  
  
The flight to the Sank kingdom was fairly short although Lita was happy to actually be able to enjoy her flight. Whenever she went anywhere on an airplane with the other senshi, he had to pretend she was deathly afraid of the flight. She turned every now and then and noticed Heero watching her silently. It was a bit unnerving at times, but she eventually got used to it, vowing that she wouldn't let it bother her.   
  
She spent the entire flight talking to Duo and listening to him talk about the Sank kingdom and more importantly, all the times he had to listen to the "pacifist psycho" as he called her. She raised her eyes when she heard about the Heero wail and for a painful moment remember Usagi and her Mamo-chan wail. She plastered on a smile and turned in her seat to stare at the stoic boy. Duo had mentioned that Heero talked to her more then he normally talked to anyone but she had just raised an eyebrow at that. He barely talked to her at all.   
  
"Hey Heero, you like Relena?"   
  
"No." The response was sharp. She smiled slightly and turned around, already putting together a plan that was sure to shake up the serious boy and possibly get his "stalker" off of his back.   
  
---  
  
They stepped off the plane and strait into a limo. Quatre gave the driver orders to head to the Sank kingdom and off they went. During the ride, she asked Trowa about his life in the circus. Everyone laughed at one point or another-except for Heero. She frowned over that and vowed to shake up his normally emotionless façade. When they finally reached their destination and stepped out of the car preparing to head to Quatre's mansion in the Sank Kingdom, she had to cover her ears.   
  
"HHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Damn. It was worse that Usagi's Mamo-wail. A minute later a dirty blond head of hair glomped the boy. (I meant dirty blond as a color not as in an actual dirty blond) She noticed the barely restrained laughter on the rest of the pilot's faces and the look of murder blooming on Heero's.   
  
"Excuse me." She tapped the girl on the shoulder.   
  
"Who," the girl sniffed, "are you?"   
  
"Lita Trio. Who are you?"  
  
"Queen Relena Dorlin Peacecraft. Queen of the World."   
  
"No. I meant who are you to be all over my boyfriend?" Relena loosened her grip just enough for Lita to pull Heero out of the girl's grasp. Ignoring the shocked looks on all of the pilot's faces, she glared at Relena.   
  
"You are not his girlfriend! Heero, tell her you love me," she whined and turned to the pilot.   
  
"If he loves you," Lita said with a sly smile before Heero could answer, "then why doesn't he mind this?" Without another word, she threw her arms around the Perfect Soldier and kissed him.   
  
---  
  
Heero's arms snuck around Lita's waist as she continued to kiss him. Her hands began to play with the hair at the base of his skull before she remembered that she was just doing this for an audience. Quickly, she pulled back and nestled her head on his shoulder and whispered,   
  
"Just play along," in his ear before turning back to Relena. "So you still want to tell me that he loves you?"  
  
"I-how-what-" Relena stuttered before fainting. Untangling herself from Heero's grasp she stepped over the girl and headed inside.   
  
"Anyone interested in dinner?"  
  
TBC 


	8. Descovering, loving and Finding Serenity

HELP!!  I read a ff a long time ago-strictly Sailor Moon, no crossover, that was about how the Negaverse got Mercury before Moon and Luna did.  And then they found Sailor Jupiter and she and Mercury became friends.  Does anyone know the author or title of this story?!  If you send it to me or write it in your review and it's the right one, I may have a surprise for you... like you getting the chapter early. 

Author:  Fate's Child (Terra Brooks)

Date: December 11, 2001

E-mail:  Prncss_Earth@hotmail.com

Duo collapsed in laughter as soon as his sister was inside.  The look on Heero's face was for once not emotionless, but rather one of stunned disbelief.  The rest of the pilots just stood still gaping until Relena began to stir.  Quickly, everyone made their way into the house and locked the door behind them.  Noticing humming coming from the kitchen, the five boys walked to the living room.  Duo was still wiping tears from his eyes.  

"Did you guys see," he giggled, "the look on Relena's face when," helpless fits of laughter consumed him again.  Quatre joined him, chuckling softly while Wufei and Trowa just smirked.  Heero still had the look of disbelief on his face.

"I think she was trying to get Relena to leave you alone for good, Heero."  Trowa explained when the pilot just kept staring at his companions.

"Exactly," Lita commented from the doorway.  "If I embarrassed you, I'm sorry."  She smiled slightly as she took in the sight of her brother sitting on the ground, tears of laughter still running down his face. 

"Trio, that was GREAT!"  Duo hooted and then dissolved into fits again. 

"Duo, get a grip.  I have to make a trip to the store if anyone is interested in telling me where it is." 

"I'll take you."  The pilots looked surprised at who had offered.  In the doorway stood Rashid.  

"Okay.  Thanks."  Lita turned towards the man.  "Uh, you are?"

"Rashid.  I assume you are Mr. Maxwell's sister."

"Yup, that's me.  Lita Trio at your service."  She gave a small bow.  "Just let me get my coat."  She headed out of the room. 

"Rashid, one of us can take her."  Quatre said.  

"She interests me."  Was all the man said before turning and walking out the door behind the tall girl.  

-     -      -     

"So you worked for Quatre a long time, huh?"  Lita questioned as they drove to the store.  

"Yes.  You've known them for about two weeks?"  Lita nodded in answer.  "And you know his sister."  This time it wasn't a question.  

"No.  I don't believe I've ever met any of the Winners before.  Why?"

"I thought that was how you found out about the job."  Rashid answered, keeping his face placid.  

"No, there was an ad in the newspaper.  I just showed up."  Staring at her from the corner of his eye, Rashid judged she was telling the truth.  Which didn't explain the picture he'd found in her purse containing two of the Winner sisters.  Not that he had been spying or anything.  He nodded because he thought she needed an answer and kept driving. 

-     -      -     

While Trio and Rashid were at the store, the pilots talked about their new mission.  Although the theme wasn't too new.  It was to protect Relena at all costs because there was another organization after her.  They called themselves the Moon Guard and were supposedly trying to find the rightful heir to the throne, stating that Relena wasn't the true Princess of the world.  Although she furiously told them otherwise.  

They worried a bit about what to do concerning Duo's sister-who had already wormed her way into their very tight hearts.  None of them wanted to see her get hurt, and they knew from the tone of voice she used whenever Duo was concerned that she would get involved if she thought he was in trouble.  They decided that the only thing that they could do for the time being was to keep her ignorant and pray that she didn't have any cause to try and delve deeper into their pasts-or their present.  Duo gravely informed them that she was as good with a computer as he was-probably better-and that her skills on the street, both fighting and pick pocketing, had earned her quite a reputation back when they were still young.  It seemed to the pilots (especially Wufei) that her skills had only increased and that she would be a difficult foe to deceive.  Trowa carefully reminded everyone that they were not harmless themselves.  They weren't the five most deadly boys on the planet for nothing.  

They had all gone their separate ways then: Quatre headed towards the office to do some business while Wufei went to train.  Trowa headed to the music room to calm his nerves like he always did after serious discussions and Duo decided to go for a swim.  Heero was soon left alone in the library and took a seat in one of the big chairs Quatre's family seemed to favor so much.  There was, for a long time, more thoughts running through his head then he could control.  There was something about Lita, and the way she kissed him, that triggered something in his memory.  He put that thought away for a moment and focused on the others.  

He was not-as everyone else assumed-as emotionless as he appeared.  There was a lot going on behind his shielded eyes, he had just learned over the years to never, ever let anyone see what lurked beneath.  Dr. J had trained what he thought was the "Perfect Soldier".  What he really trained was a master deceiver.  From the moment a gun had been placed in his hand, Heero had known that his life would never be the same.  That he had already seen and learned too much.  The Doctor wouldn't just let him go if he failed his training.  So Heero hid who he was, what he felt, from the rest of the world.  Day by day, he mislead the rest of the world.  And everyday he paid for it.  

Until he had finally been pulled into the band of misfits that became known as the unbreakable five at any school they were put into.  Somehow, against the odds, or maybe in spite of them, they had become friends.  From the quite and solemn Trowa to the hyper Duo.  They were the first friends any of them had truly known and so far, the last.  

And then Lita came into the picture.  Duo was suddenly showing both sides of him, not only the hyper part, but the serious, sometimes sentimental side too.  Quatre was showing protectiveness and Trowa was talking more.  A lot more.  Wufei finally seemed to respect a woman and Heero...  Heero shook his head.  He was more affected then he let on.  There was something mysterious about her, something so hurt, so destroyed, that it made him want to reach past whatever barriers she'd put up and fix it.  Sometimes, he'd find her silently looking at the group as if she wasn't truly there, as if she didn't belong.  And there was a yearning in her eyes so strong that it made him ache to comfort her.  

He hid the feelings he had developed for her where he hid the rest of his emotions.  In a part so deep inside of him, they'd only come out when he was alone and had time to dig to where he had buried them.  And sometimes he would type on his computer, what exploded in his mind because of them.  It was like opening a door and Heero found that sometimes the only way that he could ever control them to any degree was to write stories about other people having the same feelings he wasn't aloud to have.  

That was his little secret.  None of the pilots knew-and he would keep it that way if he could.  Which was why he kept such tight security on the damn thing.  If any of his friends found out about what came out of him when he was in emotional turmoil... he'd have to kill them.  But some part of him wanted to share it with the broody brunette that had come into their lives so suddenly.  That made him both uneasy and angry.  He shook his head again.  

He watched her from the shadows when she didn't know he was there and he felt himself slowly falling in love with her.  Dramatic, he knew it seemed that way, but it was the truth.  There was a haunted past to her that gave him something to identify with, secrets that she hid, like he hid a part of himself.  Yet she was able to do something he never had.  She hid a part of herself, yet managed to be open and honest with him and the others and for that reason she had earned their respect and their friendship-none of which were given easily.  

And then there was that kiss.  Not only had it been given to get Relena to leave him alone, but he was sure that there was no way that someone could kiss that way if they didn't mean it.  And it had stirred more feelings in him then her simple presence had, but this time his mind and body was still reeling from the effects and he hadn't had time to cover the feelings he was sure had passed across his face.  Luckily, the rest of the pilots had been reeling from the fact that she had actually kissed him and weren't paying attention to his face.  

He had promised himself when he had heard her sing that he would do anything to open her up even if it meant acting human in front of everyone.  He had made the vow and now found it hard to make it seem like a chore.  He saw what she had done as a friendly effort.  It was a pain of regret that he felt when he thought back on it.  He didn't want to be her friend.  There was no way that she could ever love him the way he was loving her, he knew.  But it didn't stop the wanting.  And some little voice inside of him was taunting.  'Why can't she love you?  You're worth it.  You can be worth it.'  He was snapped out of his musing when he heard a car door slam.  He quickly shoved his feelings back down to where he hid them and stood.  There was some research on his new mission that he needed to get and he had spent enough time wasting time on... feelings.  

-     -      -     

The rest of the trip had been uneventful and soon Lita was standing in the kitchen trying to decide what to cook for dinner.  She turned when someone cleared their throat in the doorway.  

"Hi Trowa!"  She chirped, waving a little.  "What can I help you with?"

"I wanted to know if you needed any help."  She smiled.  

"Actually, I don't have the faintest idea what to cook for dinner."  He was quiet for a minute.  

"Quatre and I did most of the cooking when-before you came.  I could help you make stakes if your interested."  

"Sure.  Great.  I haven't made stakes in..." she trailed off, remembering the American cook off she and Haruka had had about a month before she had left.  Her eyes softened a bit at the thought of the wind senshi and with regret that she could never tell her of the last battle or where she had gone.  She cleared her throat.  "I haven't made them in a long time.  Stakes would be good."  She turned to the refrigerator and took out the meat.  Trowa watched her for a moment, remembering the emotions that had played over her face before walking over to help her.  

-     -      -

"I really don't need to go to school."  Lita said. 

"You have to."  Duo stated.  

"It was part of the deal," Quatre reminded. 

"But that means I have to pretend to be Heero's girlfriend all the time in order for my original plan to work.  Because we are going to Relena's school."   Everyone nodded, even the perfect soldier.  She stared at the colbat-eyed boy and their gazes held.  She was unaware of her brother quietly ushering everyone out of the room.  She did notice, however, when the door clicked shut.  

"Hn."  Heero seemed to have just noticed that they were alone also.  

"You really don't want me pretending to be your girlfriend."  Lita tried to preswade him.  "I'm an awful girlfriend.  Just ask-"  'Damn.  Don't want to go there'.  "You just don't want me as a girlfriend.  

"Hn."  She hated the way his eyes stayed on hers, steady as you please without so much as a twitch of emotion.  

"Ugh."  She flopped down on the sofa, trying to sort out a good argument. 

"Would it really be so bad?"  His voice was so soft, she almost missed it. 

"What?"

"Would it be so bad to pretend to be my girlfriend."  She sat up straighter trying not to let her mind wander to the dreams she'd had of him.  Chancing a look at his face, she was surprised to note that instead of looking emotionless, he just looked tired.  

"I don't under-"

"Is it that hard to imagine going out with someone like me?"  All of her thoughts stilled.  

"No."  The answer was soft.  "Not at all.  I just-" she took a deep breath and prepared to take a huge plunge.  "Maybe I just didn't want to pretend."  When his eyes snapped up to meet hers, she was again surprised at the intensity.  There was so much he hid behind that wall of cool indifference.  "I like you, Heero.  A lot."  He was silent for another moment processing the words and smirking at the little.  Sometimes that little voice was right.   

"Good."  He murmured.  "Cause I think I like you too.  A lot."  He added with a smile. 

"Oh god."  Her breath punched out of her in a whoosh.  His smile was devastating.  He walked over to where she still sat and pulled her up, linking his hands behind her back.  

"I liked it when you kissed me," he whispered, a breath away from her lips.  

"Me too," her voice was soft and warm, her eyes dreamy and her body limp in his arms.  "I liked it so much," she paused, "I'm going to do it again."  Lifting her arms to link around his neck, she closed the distance between their lips.  

-     -      -

      "What's up, Q?"  Quatre turned around in surprise at the voice.  He was met with a tall blond man and a aqua haired woman.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?"  The man turned to his companion. 

"'Do I know you'," he mocked, making Quatre turn red.  "Jeez, Quatre, how many people call you Q?"  The blond haired boy's eyes widened for a minute. 

"Haruka?"  He squeaked out, trying to imagine his sister looking like a man of all things.  

"The one and only."  She turned to the other woman.  "This is Michiru."  

"Hi."  Quatre suddenly remembered his duty and bowed slightly.  "A pleasure."  A whoop of laughter and triumph sounded from down the hall that had the three running.  What they saw astonished them.  Duo was doing a happy dance while Lita and Heero stood faintly blushing-holding hands.  All of a sudden, Lita let go of his hand and looked up, alarm coloring her vision.  Her eyes met with the blonde's and then the other woman. 

"Haruka."  Her voice was soft and pain filled, just as her eyes were. "Michiru."  Quatre looked in shock as his sister's eyes hardened and she shrugged off the arm of her companion.  Haruka walked right up to the brown haired girl.

"Makoto."  Without batting an eye, Haruka reared back a fist and let it fly.

TBC

JK!!  It would be a great place to stop, but I want this to be long. 

Lita's head snapped back with the force of the punch.  She cursed and put a restraining hand on her boyfriend's arm before pulling it up to blot at her lip.  

"That hurt."

"It was meant to."  Before anyone could say a word, Haruka pulled the brunette into her arms and into a bone crushing hug.  "God.  If you ever, ever do something like that again, I will personally kill you."

"I didn't mean to just leave.  I didn't mean to make you worry."  Surprised and a little appalled at the tears in her eyes, Lita squeezed them shut.  "I didn't think."

"And we worried because of it.  But Setsuna told us you were safe.  Although she didn't tell us you were here."  The calm voice came from Michiru.  Lita turned and let the aqua haired woman envelope her in a hug.  "Why did you feel the need to run so far, so fast?"  The quiet question had Lita pulling back.  

"Didn't they tell you?"  Her voice, and short laugh were bitter.  "Didn't they tell you why they kicked me out?"  At the astonished looks on their faces, she stood tall, prepared for the hate she would find in their eyes.  "Didn't they tell you I killed her?"  

"Bloody hell."  The violent curse from Haruka had everyone turning in her direction.  "You didn't kill her."

"You weren't there.  You didn't see.  She gave her life for mine, Haruka.  I as good as killed her."

"Where were the others?"  

"Out on dates.  Working.  I didn't ask.  All I know is they didn't pick up their damn communi-"

"Look, now is not the place."  Michiru's firm voice left no room for argument.  She let her eyes wander silently over the five boys that stood as their audience.  "Not now."  The two figures shook their heads in agreement.  

"If not now, than later."  Lita said.  "How did you find me?"

"We didn't.  Well, we didn't mean to."  Haruka answered.  "I'd like you to meet my brother.  Quatre Raberba Winner.  My full name is Haruka Tenisis Reberbra Winner.  I came out of a test tube."  

Lita just goggled for a minute before turning to look at Quatre.  Then at Haruka and Quatre again.  She shook her head and looked at her brother and then her boyfriend before just sitting down in the middle of the hall.  

"All these years and we never figured it out."  Her voice was incredulous and just a little bit pissed.  Suddenly her eyes sharpened and turned to Michiru.  "You knew?"  The woman nodded.  "Did... did she know?"  Her voice almost broke.  "Did you tell her?"  Haruka looked softly down at the senshi of Jupiter.  

"I didn't have to.  She already knew."  

"I never told her.  I wasn't supposed to know, so I didn't.  Damn.  I should have told her about the most important part of my life."  She let her eyes flicker to her brother for a minute before coming back to rest on the senshi of the wind.  

"You'll get the chance."  Haruka noted that her lover had quietly ushered everyone out of the hallway.  They both offered a hand to the girl on the ground and then walked into the kitchen, all three sitting down at a table. 

"I-" her eyes lifted to Haruka's.  "She gave her life for me.  She gave it as if I deserved it.  And then she disappeared.  No flash of the crystal, nothing.  She was just gone.  And I can't... I don't know if I'll see her again."

"You will.  When has she ever stayed dead?"  Haruka's voice was sharp.  Much sharper then she had intended.  

"Do you know what she said to me before she died?"  Anger was just as evident as sorrow in Lita's voice.  "She said that she never loved Mamoru.  That she hoped she could learn to love him.  And then she told me that she loved me and to live and love.  To never let destiny hold me.  And I realized that she had given much, much more then any of us ever knew, ever realized.  I thought she loved him, I thought she was happy."  

Haruka and Michiru looked stricken at her words.  "So did we.  Oh my god.  So did we."  

"How could she have not told me, at least?!"  Haruka's voice was soft.  "Why would she have not told me?" 

-     -      -     

The boys stood in silence for a moment after Michiru had pushed them all into the room.  

"That's the sister that disappeared years ago?"  Trowa asked softly, looking at Quatre.  

"Yes.  She just, disappeared."  Quatre's voice seemed lost.  

"So did Lita."  Heero commented.  "And imagine that they all come back in the same span of time."

"Not to mention that they all know each other."

"Maxwell, that's the second time I've heard your sister say that she killed another onna.  I want to know why."

"I don't know, Wufei.  I never-"  Duo looked at his friends and fellow pilots.  "We agreed to leave the past in the past and to have no more regrets.  Because I was afraid.  But I think that it's a little too late for that."

"Your sister feels she had a part in someone's death and obviously her former comrades did also.  All except for your sister," he said to Quatre, "and her friend."  Heero looked at the other boys.  "Now the question is, do we ask them-"

"Heero, we won't get an answer there."  Duo replied. Heero glared. 

"Or do we go behind their backs?"  For the first time since the pilots had met, Heero allowed them to see a grimace.  The mood was too solemn for them to comment on it, or for Duo to razz him about it.  "I don't want to do the second one, as I have a personal interest in keeping her happy."  

"Let's try asking.  We can always-"  A beeping noise filled the room.  They looked to the chair where Lita had left her purse.  Heero walked over and pulled out what appeared to be a calculator.  His finger slipped and hit a button.  He steeled his face as another appeared on the screen.  

"Mako?"  The voice was frazzled.  The face blinked and turned to stone as it saw who was on the other line.  "Who the hell are you?" 

"I could ask you the same."  If the figure was surprised at the tone of voice he used, they didn't show it.  

"Do you have Makoto?  How did you get a hold of this?  Is she okay?  I swear to God if you hurt her I will personally see to it that-"

"Who are you?"  The voice Heero used was hard.  He was tempted to pull his gun but figured it wouldn't do much good. 

"I am..." the figure paused a moment.  "Aphrodite.  She is safe, I can feel it from here.  Tell her I called and that even Goddesses feel remorse over their loss of temper."  The screen went blank.  Just as the door slid open.  

"I'm sorry about that-"  Lita froze at the sight of Heero with her communicator on.  "What are you doing with my... calculator?"  

"It was beeping."  She raised an eyebrow and tried to appear amused.  

"Oh really.  Since when do calculators-"

"They don't.  But communicators do."  His voice remained emotionless.  "Aphrodite says that even Goddesses feel remorse over their loss of temper."  He watched as her face as a mask slid on.  "And I think you have some explaining to do."  Without another word, he took the four steps that separated them and swung her up, over his shoulder, ignoring her gasp and the surprised faces of the other pilots and carried her out of the room towards the stairs.  

"Does anyone else think that Heero is acting out of character?"  Duo asked trying to remember that he wasn't a fish.  (-- that means he was trying to close his mouth)  

"Maxwell."  Wufei's voice was amused.  "Yui's in love."   

-     -      -     

"Heero Yui, put me down!"  Lita yelled in a voice that was both frustrated and angry.  Very, very angry.  All the boy in question did was grunt.  

Lita had ceased pounding her fists against her boyfriend's back when she realized it was doing no good.  She had an uneasy feeling that even if she was seriously hurting him, he still wouldn't have let go.  She looked over her shoulder and realized he still held her communicator in his hand.  She sighed before tapping his back.  

"Hn."

"Heero, I'll come with you.  Just let me walk."  She yelped with he swung her off his shoulder and into his arms, cradling her like a baby. 

"Maybe I like carrying you."  She sighed and buried her head into his shoulder, not quite sure that she could have worked up a good retort... if she had wanted to, that is.  

"Then maybe I don't mind being carried."  She yelped again a minute later when he strode through her bedroom door and dumped her on the bed.  Standing over her with his arms crossed over his chest, he just stared.  Lita sighed. 

"What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to tell me who you are, where you came from."  His voice softened, "I want to know why you hurt so bad."

"How about you?"  She countered while lowering her eyes.  "What makes you so cold?  Who are you really, besides a "perfect soldier"?  Where did you come from?"

"I never told anyone.  Not even they know all of it," he said, referring to his comrades.  "But I care about you so much it hurts and I don't know why.  All this-this was not who I was raised to be.  It confuses me.  But it scares me more."  His voice grew cold, a mocking tone that signaled it was something he had been told, over and over again.  "'Emotions weaken you.  They make you slower and stupid.  They cloud your vision, you skills.  There will be no emotion here.'"

"The person I loved the most was so great at protecting people because of her emotion."  Lita responded.  "It was love that drove her so hard.  The thought that if she gave up, all she loved would be in pain.  It's why I fought."  Her eyes lifted to his.  "'Everything that has happened to you in the last ten years can never be repeated unless you meet with Serenity again.  Not even to your brother.  If I don't think that you can keep this secret, I will take your memories.'"  Lita repeated the words that Pluto had said to her during their last meet.  "I promised on my honor as a soldier, a warrior.  Unless I meet with Serenity again I cannot speak of it to anyone but Haruka and Michiru."  She stood slowly.  "Heero, there's something about you that makes me want to be special to you.  Even before we got here I wanted to make you smile, or laugh.  I care-and it scares me how much I want to break my word, my oath, to tell you everything."  She walked towards the door, stopped, swore, and without turning around spoke in a soft voice.  

"Jupiter's what I swore on, Yui.  A warrior's word.  Serenity is the moon, the answers lie in the past.  Far, so far, and closer too.  Duo's good with a computer.  If you uncover my secret, you'll do it with all of your friends because I've come to care for them too."  Without another word, she stepped out into the hall and disappeared in a flash of green light. 

Heero stood in the same place for a minute before grabbing his laptop and heading for the door.  

-     -      -     

"Where have you been, Haruka?"  Quatre demanded, his hands on his hips.  Haruka just shot a cool glance at her brother. 

"You're forgetting whose older, Q."  Quatre turned red for the second time since she'd come back.  

"I. Don't. Care.  We call you to tell you father died and the next day you disappear.  And you know Lita, who disappeared too, and you come back looking like a man!"  

"I had business to attend to elsewhere, Quatre.  It was..." she glanced at Michiru.  "Destiny."  

"At least Renity called."  Quatre mumbled.  "She wouldn't tell me where she was either, but she let me know she was alive!"  His voice was steadily rising.  Haruka's eyes sharpened at the last sentence and her hand unconsciously tightened on Michiru's.  

"Where is she?  Now, I mean?"  Quatre noticed the changed in his sister-and her lover's-bodies and eyes.  He sat back slightly. 

"Maybe I won't tell you."

"She's alive," Haruka muttered, just loud enough to have Quatre sitting straighter in alarm.  Haruka turned to Michiru.  "Do you think she remembers?"  

Noticing how interested Quatre was in their conversation, Michiru put a warning in her eyes and patted Haruka's hand.  "I'm sure she remembers you, love.  It hasn't been so long that she would forget her own sister."

"She has twenty other siblings," Haruka mumbled catching on.  

"Why would she be dead?"  Quatre asked urgently.  

"The war," Haruka lied.  Her brother eyed her suspiciously when a surge of power rocked the room.  "Shit!  That was Mako."   Haruka stood-and a minute later both she and Michiru were out the door and gone in a similar flashes of light.  Quatre had started out after them, slightly surprised at the speed, when he caught Heero coming down the stairs.  

"Quatre, meeting in the living room."  When the blonde pilot hesitated, Heero jerked his head and reverted to soldier mode.  "Now."  

The minute Quatre was in the room, Heero turned and locked the door.  

"What is it, Yui?"  Wufei asked.  

"I didn't find anything out from Lita-exactly."  

"Haruka wouldn't say a word."  Quatre answered when Heero looked at him.   

"Lita did leave me with a riddle."  He threw the laptop at Duo, who deftly caught it.  When the braided boy looked at the normally stoic boy questioningly, Heero took a breath and repeated the riddle.

"Warrior of Jupiter?"  Trowa looked at the rest of the boys.  "Senshi, she kept saying senshi before.  Japanese word, right, Heero?"

"Hn.  It means warrior, soldier, fighter."  Heero answered.  "'Sen' is taken from the word 'sento', meaning to battle.  'Shi' is four, which also means death, but is taken from the word 'heishi', meaning soldier."  When the rest of the pilots just looked at him, he shrugged his shoulders.  "What?"

"She said to look in the past."  Duo said, flipping open the computer.  "So lets look for any references to Senshi Jupiter or Serenity in Japan, because that's the language she seems to have acquired since she left."

"Woman warriors," Wufei said, snorting.  Then he froze.  "Woman warriors.  Nine.  Named after the planets."  The Chinese boy stood and paced.  "One for earth's moon, but no warrior of earth."  All the boys had stopped to look at their fellow pilot.  "Princess' and a Prince.  Advisors.  Fire, lightning, ice, energy, wind, water, time and death.  Roses," he muttered.  "Their end had something to do with roses."  Something Wufei said had jogged something deep in Heero's memory.  

"Serenity and Endymion.  The moon kingdom."  Duo paled.  

"Makoto, Princess of a planet not so far away.  Jupiter."  He held up the hand that still wore the ring he had given to his sister, and then she back to him.  "Lightning."  He motioned to the engravings on the side.  

"Where did you hear all that, Wufei?"  Trowa asked.  

"Marrian was obsessed with the story.  A legend of nine female warriors that lived during the twentieth and early twenty-first century.  His eyes rose to meet the rest of the pilots.  "The sailor senshi."

"So you're all telling me that my sister thinks that she's a woman warrior from a Chinese legend?"  Duo's voice was incredulous.  

"Japanese legend."  Heero responded.   

"Haruka said her disappearing had to do with destiny."  Quatre mumbled.  

"Tokyo newspaper, 1990's.  Headline reads 'Sailor moon saves the day!  Who is this new heroine?'"  Trowa read from the computer.  There are thousands of entries."  

"Go to the last."  Duo ordered.  

"2001, Demeber 18.  'Senshi mysteriously disappear.  Moon, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune all not seen at last battle.  Remaining senshi have no comment.  Is this the end of our heroines?'  It seems that there is one more after this, that states it was the last time any of the senshi were ever seen fighting."   

"Moon, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune."  Quatre mumbled.  "Do all searches on Haruka."  Trowa typed it in. 

"52 mentions.  Ten'ou Haruka-famous racecar driver-and girlfriend Kaiou Michiru-famous violinist.  Both mentioned quite a few times, both alone and together."  They all crowded around to look at the picture that loaded.  

"So either this is one big coincidence, or our sisters and Michiru are time travelers."  

"Three of them."  Heero thought aloud.  

"But four senshi are missing."  Trowa stated.  

"Lita said 'didn't they tell you?  I killed her'."  Wufei's voice broke into her thoughts.  "Your sister, Maxwell, told us one was dead."  

"But-"  

"Q-tra!  I'm home!"  The voice that rang out in the hall had the boys sitting up straighter.  

"RENITY, IN HERE!"  Quatre laughed as a blond girl bounded into the room, her long hair in a ponytail.  She stopped in the doorway and smiled sheepishly.  

"Sorry, Q.  I didn't know you were busy."

"Guys, this is my other sister, Serenity."  

"Serenity?"  Heero's sharp tone had them all looking at him curiously.  

"Yup, that's me!  You are?"

"Lita said she couldn't say anything unless she met with Serenity again."  

"Quatre, your other sister's the fourth."  Wufei answered, catching onto Heero's train of thought.  

"Q, your friends are weird!"  The blond murmured.  She almost lost her balance when the front door pushed open.  She turned quickly and took three steps back.  The boys looked around the corner to see Haruka and Michiru supporting a bloody and unconscious Lita. 

-     -      -     

Lita didn't know where she had teleported to, but it was beautiful and it was peaceful.  A minute later two more flashes of light announced the arrival of the two outer senshi.  

"Want to talk about it?"  Haruka said sitting down next to the senshi of Jupiter. 

"Not really."  She sighed again when Michiru sat down on her other side.  "I guess it wasn't a question."  

"Nope."

"I'm in love with Heero.  I get flashes every now and then of the Silver Millennium and I see us together.  I don't want to scare him away.  And I don't want to love him because of who he was."  Haruka and Michiru shared a look.  

"You'll love him for him.  Deep down, not even destiny could make you love him now if you didn't want to."  Michiru said softly. 

"When we first met, it was instant attraction, no matter how hard I tried to deny it."  Haruka added. 

"I had already come to terms with who I was as a senshi and that I was... lesbian.  But Haruka hadn't."

"So I pushed her away.  And when I took that transformation pen the first time, I remembered bits, pieces of the past I had with her.  And I took the attraction I had for her and turned it into love automatically because I loved her back then.  I figured, hell, I was taking a huge part of my destiny, why not take two?"

"I did the same-kind of.  It got to a point where it was like we'd slipped into the "old married" couple role.  We were so comfortable we didn't even talk about our days.  We barely knew each other."

"Then one day, Michiru found me with a friend of mine.  We must have looked like we were in a compromising position or something because she blew up.  Didn't talk to me for days."  Haruka looked at her partner amused.  "And we realized something."

"If Haruka and I had gotten to know each other in this lifetime first, that wouldn't have been a problem.  So we each took a step back and decided that it was going to stop."

"But I couldn't keep away from her when we weren't on missions, so I asked her out on our first real date.  We talked-really talked.  And that's how our relationship began."

Lita looked at both with a confused sort of admiration on her face.  "So things weren't always perfect?"  Haruka shook her head. 

"Nope.  Still aren't."

"And that position that 'might have been compromising', my love, was compromising.  She was sitting on your lap."

"She fell there."

"That's your story and you stick to it."  Michiru patted Haruka's faintly annoyed cheek before turning back to Lita.  

"I... I guess I already started loving him, wanting him, needing him, before I knew about the past thing.  But I think I'll have to talk to him about some stuff."  She stood when she heard a rustling in the bushes.  "Who's there?"  It was only her senshi reflexes and abilities that made it able for her to catch the shine off of a gun before it fired.  And headed straight towards Haruka.  Without a thought she pulled the gun she had taken from Heero's room back when they were still on colony and shot off a round she knew would hit her attacker.  Then she dived in front of the wind senshi.  

"MAKO!"  Two alarmed voices rang out as the bullets hit her in the side, going straight through.   

"Shit."  She looked down at her side and tried to staunch the wound with her hands.  "I got shot."  She looked down at her hands again, "some bastard actually shot me," she looked up at her friends before passing out. 

They each took an arm and teleported to Quatre's front door, fervently hoping no one would see them.  

-     -      -

Duo ran forward once he saw who had walked in and was closely followed by Heero. 

"What did you two do to her?!"

"She jumped in front of a bullet for me."  Haruka answered before looking up.  

"Haruka, you're back too?  And Michiru?  Why are you all here?  And how the hell do you all," she turned to the boys.  "Know Mako-chan?"

"She's my sister."  Duo answered.  He looked down and noticed Heero had already patched Lita's wound and was staring at the blond.  

"You're the fourth missing senshi.  Serenity is the moon."  Serenity opened her mouth to respond when a portal of dark green mist opened up right in the living room.  

"Princess, you might want to take care of Makoto's wound."  The woman said, after stepping out into the hallway.  She ignored all the guns pointing at her.  Serenity nodded silently and placed her hands over her friend's wound, letting the power of the moon heal it.  

"You're the lady who gave me the ring and earrings!"  Duo exclaimed.  "Only you look different now."  Lita opened her eyes. 

"She's Sailor Pluto now."  Haruka answered.  

"Makoto didn't break her word to me, but she found a way to let all of you know of her past without seeing Serenity again."  She noticed the faint blush that covered Lita's cheeks.  "Now is not the time yet.  You can tell them now, because you've met with Serenity again, Jupiter, but I am asking you-all of you not to." 

"But they already-"  A flash of light stopped Lita's statement.  The boys all appeared to be in a trance.  

"When they wake, they will not remember any of what has happened in reference to the senshi.  They will remember that you came back and you and Heero are going out.  They will know that Haruka and Michiru are back too as well as Serenity.  But none of the information they have on your pasts, as senshi, will be remembered.  You are free to tell them all you like of what you did as long as it does not have to do with being a senshi."  She looked sternly at all four before pointing her staff at Lita.  Her bloody clothes were replaced with clean ones.  "Good luck.  You will know when it is time for them to know again.  Then you can reveal all."  As quickly as she had come, she was gone.  

The five boys blinked their eyes and looked at the four girls in front of them.  The girls looked back.  

"Q-man, your sister is HOT!"  Duo said, breaking the tension.  

"Hn."  Heero replied, walking over to stand next to his girlfriend.  

"Anyway, like I was saying before we all got quiet for some reason," Quatre looked faintly puzzled for a minute.  "We all start school tomorrow."  

Eight groans were heard as everyone thought of going to school with the pacifist "princess".  Of course, Michiru, Haruka and Serenity had not yet had the... displeasure of meeting the psycho bit-err... psycho lady yet.  

All the girls looked at each other and smiled a secret smile.  The boys had forgotten what all their hard work had gotten them.  Serenity looked at Lita and they shared another look, their faces growing somber.  They had a lot to talk about.  And they'd have to do it soon.  Because they didn't know what was going to happen anymore and that last youma had been oddly familiar.  

TBC.  

There we go.  Fifteen whole pages.  So I have to do my homework now and go to bed after 'cause it's 9:25 and I have school tomorrow and test and quizzes to study for that I slacked off because I WAS WRITING FANFICTION!!  If my mother ever found out, she'd do more then fry my mother board.  (see reference in top author notes for chapter 7)  Anyway, love you all.

See this button down here?  It means that you have to review damn it!  And e-mail me at Prncss_Earth@hotmail.com and you might get a surprise!!  


	9. Explainations

Okay, I've been really busy so I'm sorry you had to wait but I'm not going to let my grades seriously suffer to avoid people getting antsy about my chapters. And I do this for fun, not for pay so I don't have to explain myself to… errr… sorry, I'm in a bad mood. Reviews will definitely make me feel better though. So read and review.   
  
AND THANK YOU TO GIRL-CHAMA!!! I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR THAT STORY FOR ALMOST A YEAR AND A HALF!! THANK YOU!!  
  
Author: Fate's Child (Terra Brooks)  
Date: January 20, 2002  
E-mail: Prncss_Earth@hotmail.com  
  
Heero's arm found its way around Lita's waist as Quatre talked and tightened softly when the blond mentioned going to the pacifist school. He may have to protect the girl, but that didn't mean he couldn't imagine killing her. At least he had a shield now, in the form of his incredible girlfriend. He furrowed his brows for a moment. It seemed like there was something he should be remembering about Lita. Something she'd told him. He caught the look that passed between her and the other three girls in the room after Quatre had stopped talking and narrowed his eyes. There was definitely something he was missing here. But he felt like he should know… that he did know. Even if he couldn't remember what it was, he knew something was off. His eyes moved around the hallway. The hallway. How the hell did they all get in the hallway? Serenity had come running into the library where they had all been seated trying to find… what had they been trying to find? He abruptly let go of Lita's waist and walked towards the library door. His computer was open, but nothing was on the screen. He figured it would be a simple matter to do a backtrack on his hard drive to discover what had last been on that screen. He turned slightly and grunted when Lita put a hand on his shoulder and asked him what was wrong. There was a feeling in his stomach that told him something was wrong, off, but that he wasn't going to get any answers from his girlfriend.   
  
  
---  
  
Lita tried to hide her surprise when Heero took his arm away from her waist and walked to the doorway of the library. His eyes had narrowed before he'd left and he'd looked-adorably-confused. She shot a look at the other girls. It seemed to her like he hadn't quite forgotten everything, or knew that he was forgetting something. She gave an internal groan. Pluto had forgotten one small detail when she'd erased the boy's memories. These were not just five boys. Though Lita didn't know it, they were the five deadliest boys in this universe, they were the gundam pilots, trained soldiers. What she did know was that the "perfect soldier" wouldn't take well to having blank spots in his mind. She walked over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder.   
  
"Heero, you okay?"  
  
"Hn." He flicked a look at Lita before going to collect his computer. "I have some work to do. Later." He bent his head to give her a kiss before heading up the stairs, motioning for the pilots to follow him. Duo looked at his sister before following the Japanese boy.   
  
"You know, Trio, it's still really weird to see him acting human. But I'm glad you're the reason." Quatre gave a look to his sisters that promised they would be having a conversation about their… coincidental return while Wufei lowered his head and muttered something about more weak onnas. Trowa just looked at them all before heading up the stairs.   
  
Serenity walked towards the kitchen and the others followed her. After grabbing some sodas and a few bags of chips, Serenity headed up the back stairs, stopping at a room towards the end of the hall. Opening the door, she motioned everyone in and closed the door behind her. All of the girls made their way to various chairs around the room and Serenity settled on the bed.   
  
"Mako-chan, you want to go first?" Serenity's soft voice floated across the room to the brunette. Everyone's eyes landed on the tall girl as she lifted her tear filled eyes. Before anyone could move, she jumped up and tackled the blond on the bed. Sobs soon racked her body as she wrapped her arms around her friend and cried. "Mako-chan," Serenity whispered. "Oh, Mako-chan."   
  
"I thought you were dead. I kept seeing it in my head, I kept seeing… Oh god, how did you live? Why did you let me think you were dead? How could you let me think-" she took a huge breath and moved back some.   
  
"Mako, I thought I was going to die. There was no reason for me to think otherwise. You were so near death because of blood loss and there wasn't enough time to get you to the hospital. I started to give you energy and then it was like I couldn't stop. I knew somewhere deep inside that it wasn't enough to kill me but then it felt like when I had been completely drained. I thought it was because of I didn't have much energy left. I hadn't been sleeping well. So I told you whatever came to mind. And when I woke up I was in another one of the Winner mansions. I slept for three days before I got up enough energy to even leave my room. I spent all the time I had gathering information on what had happened since I left here ten years ago. I never knew you were here too-and I didn't know that you were even here. Otherwise I would have come to you or something. My communicator was gone so I couldn't contact Pluto to have her tell you all I was alive. I'm sorry for every moment you were in pain. I think there's something more here. But I want to hear all of your stories first." Lita sat back on the bed and made herself comfortable leaning on the headboard while Serenity did the same. Haruka and Michiru joined them on the bed, facing the two other senshi.   
  
"I… I guess I should start at the beginning," Lita said, taking a breath and refusing to be embarrassed about her crying jag. "My real name, well the name that I had answered to before Kino Makoto was Lita Trio. Duo Maxwell was the braided boy that you saw downstairs. He's my brother, younger, by a few years. I was taken to the past, I thought it was a different dimension, but I guess it was just the past, ten years ago." Lita told them of how she had met Pluto and was taken to her destiny. "After you disappeared, the rest of the inner senshi appeared. They blamed me for your death. No, that isn't right." Lita shook her head. "They felt guilty I think, now that I'm thinking without anger, and they lashed out at me. We… exchanged words. They kicked me out of the group, and I told them that it was their fault." She smiled weakly. "I believe I said that I hoped you had pity on their worthless souls. A bit harsh. We should have banded together, not torn each other apart. I know Minako's sorry cause she called here and left a message." She then told all of the senshi what had happed from the moment she left her apartment until the time she got shot.   
  
"Mako-chan, you move fast. Heero's cute." Serenity giggled and winked before turning serious again. "Okay, you next Haruka."   
  
"For Mako's benefit I'm going to start from the very beginning. I am the twenty seventh daughter of the Winner family. I left the house when I was ten years old to live in another mansion because me and father didn't get along too well. Quatre visited me often as well as my favorite little sister, Serenity, the twenty eighth daughter of the Winner family. I got a call from Quatre one night telling me that father had died. I hung up the link when a woman in a strange fuku walked out of a portal and told me that my destiny lay elsewhere. For a split second I remembered everything about the Silver Millennium and so I walked through the portal with her. Though she gave you a knew past, she TOLD you your past for that time. She wiped my memory of this time and imputed a brand new past. She practically programmed me." Haruka scowled for a bit. "Remember that black eye she had a while ago?" The rest of the senshi nodded while Michiru hid a smile behind her hand. "Yeah, that was when she gave my back my memory." Everyone was silent for a minute before giggling. "I didn't expect to see Serenity there and I guess it would have ruined things if I had known who she was. Anyway, she caught us on our way back from out tour. She told us that we were needed here, that part of our destiny lay in my past that was our future. So we came. I wasn't expecting to see you."  
  
"Then what the hell was the punch for?" Lita snapped.   
  
"I was angry that you were here and that you didn't tell me that you came from here."  
  
"You didn't tell me you were from the future either," Lita pointed out.   
  
"That's besides the point."   
  
"Wait a minute," Lita narrowed her eyes, "Michiru, what did you mean by your comment. You asked me why I felt the need to run so far so fast." Everyone looked at the aqua haired senshi.   
  
"I knew. I knew you thought that Serenity was dead. I saw it in my mirror. I tried to contact you and I couldn't find you. I called the other senshi and they said they didn't know, that you ran away. That's all I meant by the comment."  
  
"You knew?!" Haruka screeched.   
  
"I think that's the first time I've heard you screech, love. Yes, I knew. But I was also visited by Pluto who told me to keep it to myself."   
  
"I feel like Pluto was manipulating the lot of us," Lita mumbled.   
  
"Maybe she was," Serenity said softly. "But for good reasons. Okay, my turn. I didn't recognize Haruka because she used to have long hair and wore padded bras because of our status." When Lita and Michiru looked at her she sighed. "Don't ask. I left before I was told that father was dead. But Pluto had set it up so that I could still talk to Quatre. I knew what was going on here. I was told by Pluto that I had to act a little bit ditzy because otherwise, she thought it would trigger something in the other senshi's memories about me being the Princess." Serenity looked thoughtful for a moment. "That doesn't make any sense. I think that Pluto knew that things that would go down better if I acted the way I did. I think… I think that it has to do something with what's going to happen in the future. What do you know about the Gundam pilots as a group?"   
  
"Hold up." Lita held up a hand with a puzzled expression on her face. "Why are we talking about the Gundam pilots?" A slow understanding started to cover her expression. "Oh no. You are not telling me that my brother and my boyfriend are the Gundam pilots. You can't be telling me that you innocent little brother is a-shit!" Lita swore. "Okay, I can believe it. I can even put the pieces together and come to the conclusion, but… that means that they are here to protect Relena, probably."   
  
"But the question is: against what?" Haruka questioned.   
  
"And that's what we're going to have to find out. But back to Pluto for a second." Serenity looked seriously at her senshi and friends. "If I hadn't acted the way that I had, then none of this wouldn't have happened. And then you and the other senshi wouldn't have had the fight and you wouldn't have come back here and made friends with your brother and his friends."   
  
"Very good, Serenity." Pluto materialized in the room without the aid of a portal. Lita glared at her and then sighed.   
  
"I suppose that if I hit you it won't do any good so I'm not going to."  
  
"Very good choice," Pluto murmured remembering all too well the feeling of Haruka's fist in her face. It wasn't a feeling she wanted to repeat and she had a feeling Lita hit just as hard. Detransforming, she took a seat between Haruka and Lita on the bed. "I believe you had some questions for me."  
  
"Crystal Tokyo wasn't our future, is it?" Serenity asked, her voice quiet, but unjudging.   
  
"It was a possible future. But Crystal Tokyo does not, for all it's peacefulness and beauty, have a very bright future of it's own. 'Absolute power corrupts absolutely'. You, Serenity did not follow this rule. However, in her later years, after Chibi-Usa's soul mate has been killed by outside forces, the rule of Tokyo will no longer be enough. And outside force killed her love and she will want to rule everything." Setsuna gave a heavy sigh for the little girl that she had come to know before changing the future. "The best chance for everyone is in your birth time."  
  
"But it's not going to come easy, is it?" Lita asked softly. "There's no rest for those who fight for peace."   
  
"Would you be happy as just another civilian?" Michiru asked. "Would any of us?"   
  
"No. I just… It was different for you guys, I guess, but I never had to worry about my family finding out-or getting hurt because of my duties as a senshi. To me my brother was as good as dead. So I fought without fear in my life. Because if I died, I would have gone down doing what I believed in and those who would miss me would know that. But now…"  
  
"You have your boyfriend and brother to worry about." Haruka nodded. "I understand."   
  
"Ironic, isn't it," Serinity whispered. "That we must always fight for peace."   
  
"But it has to be done," Setsuna answered.   
  
"None of us could ever simply sit by and watch the future unfold without doing anything." Michiru murmured. "Even without senshi powers I imagine that each one of us would find a way to fight for peace whatever the century."   
  
"True." All in the room nodded.   
  
"About the other senshi…" Lita started.   
  
"They will come in their own time. None of them were born here." The twinkle in Setsuna's eye set the off.   
  
"You've done something, haven't you?" Serenity asked.   
  
"Maybe. Did any of you ever watch Inuyasha?"   
  
"The show about the half demon- a youkai- who fell in love with the shrine maiden who died and then her… "descendant"- although not exactly- came back and they fell in love." Serenity paused for a breath. "That one?"   
  
"Yes, that one," Setsuna smiled. "Only this time the shrine maiden's past version is the one who lived and came-comes to the future."   
  
"Setsuna," Haruka growled, "have you been playing with Rei's life?"  
  
"Nothing that won't make her completely happy in the end. Now, talk about the last youma, beware of the Moon Guard and protect innocents-no matter how annoying." And with a flash, Setsuna was gone.   
  
TBC  
  
If you want the next chapter you will review… or send me an e-mail. Even to say 'I like it' or 'I hate it'. Prncss_Earth@hotmail.com 


	10. The begining of the End

Okay, I have a whole shit load of excuses as to why this didn't come out fast. Number one, my best friend and I were having major problems which caused me great emotional and mental pain and some physical. For a while she was so mad I could feel it physically and being empathic is hard enough already without having a physical manifestation.   
  
Two: I was falling behind in my school work and had some major catching up to do before grades got sent home. I still made honor role for all that care.   
  
Three: I had finals which I studied for last minute and thankfully passed probably only because I was in the good graces of the Goddess.   
  
Four: I caught the writers block bug that's been going around and had a hard time thinking of stuff to say.   
  
Five: I was gone on a week long retreat with my class and had no time to write. They woke us up at 6:45 and wouldn't let us go to bed until around 1:00 in the morning and ALL day was full of shit to do, most of it emotional. They have this theory that if you're tired, you don't put up emotional barriers and are therefore more honest with yourself and others. Trust me, it works. So I came back from that and slept for the rest of the weekend.   
  
Six: I went to L.A. with my mom and brother and didn't have access to my ffn account.   
  
::Takes a deep breath:: Okay. Enough excuses. Oh wait, one more. I did try to upload but most of this chapter didn't end up going on, it ended with _ERROR_ or something. So I'm re-uploading the whole damn thing. If anyone doesn't want to read through the revamping I did then here's what I changed.   
  
1) Duo is two years younger than Lita   
  
Therefore the senshi are – 23  
The Pilots are – 18 with the exception of Trowa and Heero who are 19  
  
READ ON AND REVIEW DAMNIT!!  
  
Author: Fate's Child (Terra Brooks)  
Date: March 19, 2002  
E-mail: Prncss_Earth@hotmail.com  
  
Chapter 10  
  
Going home and finding Serenity  
  
"Doesn't anyone find it at all strange that one minute we're in one room and the next all in different positions in the hallway and talking as if we were in the middle of a conversation?!" The pilots tried to hide their shock at the exasperation in the 'perfect' soldier's voice.   
  
"Errr…"  
  
"Not to mention the fact that your mysteriously absent sisters AND your mysteriously absent sisters ALL appear within a week of each other?"   
  
"Eh, Heero, we do think it's odd…" Duo began.  
  
"And you DON'T want answers?"  
  
"You ask her, she's your girlfriend." Trowa mumbled.   
  
"Duo's she's your sister." Heero responded.   
  
"Haruka and Serenity are Quatre's sisters."   
  
"Stupid onnas." Wufei snorted. He may understand that Lita was not weak-and he had a feeling the others weren't either-but that didn't mean that a long habit of calling woman onna was going to cease. Not to mention the fact that he had even called Marrian 'onna' on occasion.   
  
"Does anyone feel like we've had this conversation before?" Quatre asked, looking slightly puzzled. Everyone in the room stopped their argument and   
looked at him.   
  
"What?" He asked, rubbing his chest slightly. Someone in the house-or someones- was in serious pain at the moment emotionally. "I just feel like we've had this conversation before." Heero's eyes narrowed dangerously. He   
thought back on the last few days.   
  
"Think really, really hard," he demanded, his voice hard and almost emotionless. "Think about every conversation you've had the last few days with Lita." Everyone did as they were ordered. "Now tell me what you remember."   
  
"There's gaps," Trowa murmured softly.   
  
"Someone has been tempering with our memories," Wufei cursed. "There are discrepancies in all of your auras, mine too, I'm guessing."   
  
"Discrepancies?" Quatre asked as he stopped rubbing his chest. The pain had lessened a great deal. At least the girls had worked something out.   
  
"Which means that there is something going on that they don't want us to know." Heero smiled. "And we're going to find out."   
  
***   
  
The rest of the conversation died quickly since it was mainly based on the "Moon Guard" and they had discussed it previously. Everyone had gone their separate ways until dinner and Heero stood by his bed glaring down at his computer. It had given him no answers on what he'd been doing before his mysterious memory blank.   
  
"Ano, Hee-chan, I don't think that glaring at it will change anything. I'm good with computers though-not as technical as Ami-but I could-" Heero kissed her mid-ramble.   
  
"No." The command was softened by another kiss. He did not need her figuring out he knew something was wrong. He sighed and put his arms around his   
girlfriend's waist.   
  
"Well…" Lita trailed off. "What do you want to do until dinner than?" She hit him when he smirked. "Ecchi."   
  
"Always… well, actually, only since I met you." Lita blushed before smirking herself.   
  
"You kiss pretty good for it being your first time… was it part of your solider training?" She had the satisfaction of seeing his cheeks pinken.   
  
"Why don't I take you to my favorite place in the Sank Kingdom?" Lita nodded curiously and wondered, when she pulled on one of Heero's jackets if she had just agreed to visit a gun shop or something.   
  
Her curiosity hit a new level when she saw him pull a blanket from the closet and stuff it into a bag. After a quick stop to the kitchens-he made her wait outside-they headed to his motorcycle and after he strapped on the bag and tossed her a helmet, they got on. Lita gave a quick prayer of thanks to the   
Goddess that she rarely wore skirts.   
  
They stopped in the back of a run down building and Hero untied the bag. The sun had just started to set when they made their way into the building. Pausing at the base of the stairs, Heero glanced back at his girlfriend and she caught a glimpse of uncertainty in his eyes. Understanding that he was going to share something personal to him, something he'd never shared with someone else,   
she smiled and grabbed his hand, lacing her fingers through his.   
  
***  
  
Heero tuned at the base of the stairs, for the first time having second thoughts about bringing her up. When she smiled at him and placed her hand in his, something in him shifted and sighed. The moment he looked into her eyes, he saw something that made everything he was sharing with her seem right. He opened his mouth and shook his head, kissing her instead of saying anything.   
  
When they reached the top of the stairs and stepped through the doorway to the roof, a soft gasp escaped her lips. Too enchanted to be embarrassed about how feminine the gasp had sounded, she stepped away from her boyfriend and twirled around.   
  
"Heero, it's beautiful."   
  
They were encased in an outdoor garden. Flowers and trees surrounded the high wall around the room. There was a small fountain in the center and two chairs next to a small table. A telescope was set up and pointed to the sky in front of one of the chairs. Heero shrugged in mild embarrassment and spread out the blanket and food he'd taken from his pillage to the kitchen. He took out two bottles of pepsi twist when a lance of pain shot through his head. Dropping the bottles with a clatter, he clutched at the blanket of the floor beneath him and pitched forward.   
  
"Heero!" Lita headed towards the boy as he went down, wincing at his moan of pain. She gently grabbed his head and placed it in her lap after checking his pulse. It was fast, but steady. Placing her hands on his temples, she was struck by a wave of white hot pain. Grey began to seep into the edges of her vision. Fighting it off for as long as she could, she sent a mental cry for help she hoped one of the senshi got before it was too late. Suddenly, all she knew was darkness.   
  
***  
  
Heero opened his eyes to find himself in a garden. But it was not the one he had just left Lita in. Looking around for his girlfriend, he grimaced as he saw no one else with him. Suddenly snapping his head up, his eyes widened and then narrowed as he noticed he was staring at earth in the sky.  
  
"Yes, Heero Yui, you are no longer in the Sanq kingdom. No worries, though, your love is fine." He pulled his gun out and pointed it at the shimmering apparition in front of him. It was a small, fairy like woman with gossamer wings. "And I'm already dead, so that weapon won't work on me."  
  
"Who are you and who do you work for." The words were out of his mouth before his brain registered how ridicules they sounded.   
  
"I am the former Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom. I worked for the Silver Alliance. However," she waved her hand in a dismissive gesture, "since I am dead and so is the Alliance, that doesn't matter. Not to mention that questioning my past is NOT why you're here. I fear I made an error in judgment when I asked Pluto to wipe your memories. The timeline has shifted again and I feel you will need all your memories to deal with the trials ahead. It will at least save the outer senshi some time." She waved her hand again and Heero staggered with the force of his memories and past feelings. A mild head ache remained as he bowed lightly, but glared.   
  
"I wish that you would have given me some warning, your majesty."   
  
"Brace yourself, General Yui," she giggled when he just glared, then sobered as she realized she was wasting valuable time. "I fear our time for fun has ended. There was a reason I brought you here. Firstly, to explain about the Moon Guard. After the girls were reborn on earth, they fought a number of enemies. Their last enemy brought them in contact with the leading planet in the next star system over. They knew of the supposed future of the earth-one with my daughter as Neo Queen. It has come time that they wish to open up a peace trade with the people of earth. But the warriors were specifically sent to deal with Serenity and her court. Sailors Star Fighter, Healer and Maker are in charge of the mission. Since they personally know all of the senshi, they are suspicious that Serenity does not sit on the throne and are curious as to the whereabouts of her and her senshi." She sighed.   
  
"They are quite serious about her waging war on your planet and space colonies. The only way to stop that is to get my daughter to contact them and relay the message that she and her court are fine and that they should head back to their star system. You need to ask Serenity to contact them as soon as you can get back to the house. Better yet," the former queen looked thoughtful. "Get Sailors Fighter, Healer and Maker to stay. Introduce Fighter and Relena."   
  
"Why-"  
  
"Oh! And you need to find a way to put Millardo on the throne-not Relena. She is unstable."  
  
"Then why-"  
  
"I can't tell you anymore. Protect my daughter and your love with all you have, General Yui. You have but a few moments with Makoto before she must go." The Queen's gaze was sad. "Use them well. Tell her of your love." Heero opened his mouth to speak but found himself back in the garden, his head on Lita's lap. He sat up quickly and turned just in time to see her open her eyes.   
  
"What-"  
  
"You suffered magical backlash from when I was-" He shook his head, remembering the Queen's last words. "I love you, Lita." He ignored her intake of breath. "I loved you in this time too, but was no… emotionally stable enough to say so. But I remember everything now and love you all the more." His hurried explanation died on his lips as she began to fade. "Shit. She wasn't kidding about having a little time. I love you, Lita. NO matter what happens, don't you dare forget that."   
  
"Heero-" Her words were cut off as she disappeared completely. He stared at the place she had been just moment before and angrily wiped away the lone tear that worked his way down his check. He glanced up and met the eyes of a forlorn moon Princess.   
  
"Princess." He inclined his head respectfully and stood.   
  
"General Yui." She gave a sad smile. "I assume you remember everything.   
As happy as I am for that… it came at a difficult price."   
  
"She'll be okay?" He meant it to come out as a statement but instead found the pitiful question.   
  
"Yes. OF that I'm sure. I haven't figured out a lot about what's going on. But where I was the key to the other battles, she is the key to this one. You and Makoto are. In time, each senshi will have her battle."  
  
"Great." Heero grimaced. "Now I have to tell Duo."   
  
"He'll… no, he won't understand." She gave a brilliant smile and linked arms with the still weak soldier. "But we'll think of something. Now tell me of your life so far here. I now of you being a Gundam pilot, as does Mako, Haruka and Michiru, so don't leave a thing out. And that's an order, General."   
  
  
  
-----This is where I'd stop if I hadn't taken so damn long. I'm sorry about that by the way--------  
  
  
"Love you-" Lita closed her mouth and mentally swore when she realized she'd spoken to slowly and had already disappeared to wherever the hell she was now. Looking around slowly, her head still pounding from the magical backlash, it took her a minute to realize that one, she had all her memories from the Silver Millennium, ALL of them, and two, she was back in Juuban Park, Tokyo Japan in what she presumed was 2001.   
  
She stood silently and wiped off the dirt from the seat of her pants. Taking a few deep breaths to steady herself, she turned her mind to trying to figure out why she'd ended back up in Juuban. Heero had blacked out, knocked her out with the backlash. She woke up, he knew who and what she-and he- were. SO he'd gotten his memories back. But why in Kami's name had she been thrown back into 2001?! She started to walk away from the park when she noticed a letter crumpled where she'd been sitting. Assuming that she'd simply landed on it during her fall, she was surprised to note that it was addressed to her. She narrowed her eyes, however, when she noticed it was in the bold script belonging to the senshi of time.   
  
Makoto Lita Trio-  
You are, no doubt, curious as to why I have sent you back. The most simple answer is that I was under direct orders from Serenity II. General Yui has regained his memories and will help the pilots to fight anything that comes their way along with Serenity, Haruka and Michiru. You are to be assigned a different mission that will be completed in exactly a month, 31 days from when you open this letter.   
  
The senshi have training (and only a little, at that) in their magical powers. None, save Haruka, Serenity and yourself have extensive training in any military affairs. Michiru will be taught by those left behind with her. Your mission, however, is to teach the inner senshi and Hotaru who should arrive at the temple on your third day into lessons. As I said before, you have a month to complete this mission.   
  
Once the senshi are brought into the AC timeline, events will unfold at a startling pace that will leave no time for training. Martial Arts and street fighting, computer hacking, stealth, explosives, guns and mobile suit workings along with a short history of the AC time is what you must teach. In your apartment, I have left a disk and a notebook with all the new mobile suit blueprints. I'm sure you can figure them out with your previous knowledge.   
  
Good Luck,   
  
Setsuna Meioh  
  
Guardian of Pluto time Gates, Senshi of the first order of Serenity III.   
  
"Great. She kicked the base of the tree closest to her. She was by no means a coward but after the last conversations she'd held with the senshi, she was less then thrilled to go tell them she'd not only been lying to them about who she was, but that she was there to train them. Minako was sorry, that much she knew, but the others… well, judging from the light grazing the horizon, she had enough time to make it to school to catch Ami and Minako in the morning. Grinning, she took off towards her apartment. She wanted a few things first.   
  
***  
  
Whatever rumor had been started by her reputation and disappearance were replaced by more as she walked into the school yard. Instead of the blue skirt, she wore khaki cargo pants and a blue sailor shirt. Her hair was braided and the pendant stood out between her breasts. She made her way to her homeroom, a note from her "parents" tucked into her bag explaining about the death of her great aunt. She sat silently and took out the spiral notebook that Setsuna had left for her and looked at the mechanics of the mobile suits.   
  
She bent her head and studied them carefully. Duo and her both had mechanical skills but since she hadn't been trained specially like he had, she was having a bit of trouble figuring out some of the newer parts. Giving a shrug and ignoring the whispers, she leaned back and closed her eyes, suddenly regretting that she hadn't slept in almost two days. She heard a gasp and the sound of books dropping and had to fight down a smile. Ami had arrived. A few minutes later a squeal emerged and she guessed Minako was there. But the sensei arrived and any conversation they might have had was lost as he began roll call.   
  
Lunch came quickly and Lita stood quickly and made her way to the base of the tree they used to eat at. She sat slowly, suddenly and vividly remembering the garden she'd been at with Heero. Swallowing the lump that rose in her throat, she waited for her friends to arrive.   
  
***  
  
Ami and Minako walked side by side towards the courtyard heavy with guilt, confusion and happiness. Makoto was back. But their last words to her hung like a chain around their necks. And then the confusion. Where had they been the last month? Why did she dress like she did? Why the hell did she take her ponytail out?!   
  
"Mako-chan?" Ami questioned the brunette quietly.   
  
"No. I was born as Lita Trio. But yes, it's me."  
  
"We missed you!" Minako lifted her finger and wagged it lightly. "Bad Mako! We lost Usagi AND you in one blow-though both were kinda our fault-and Michiru and Haruka are missing. How dare you hang out with cute boys without me!" Ami raised her eyebrows at the last comment. "Who were they?"  
  
"My boyfriend, Heero, and my brother was somewhere in the room. So was Usagi's brother and his boyfriend. Wufei was in there somewhere, I think, I don't know. I was in the kitchen."  
  
"Your brother?" Minako blinked. "But you're-"  
  
"Not who you think I am. I had a whole life before Setsuna brought me here. We need to talk. She moved to stand. "Now."  
  
"But we still have-" Ami started to argue.  
  
"Uh uh. Now, Ami. What's going on right now is even more important then missing a half a day of school. Temple, now. You can call Rei and tell her to be there too-I'll meet you all there."   
  
"But-"  
  
"It's about Serenity." Turning her back, she walked away from her two stunned friends.   
  
***  
  
Spending the small amount of time she had, Lita grabbed three folders she'd made that morning and a gun before heading to the temple. When she got there, all three were already seated at the edge of the small pond. Ignoring the flash of memory she got of the times they'd sat there before, she walked towards her teammates.   
  
"Mako…" Rei stood.   
  
"Rei. I'm sorry for what I said. However, we don't have time for apologizes. I have precisely one month to teach you things that took me a lifetime to hone and perfect. You'll each have a specific sector to excel in but…" she sighed. "I supposed I should start at the beginning.  
  
"I was born as Lita. I never knew my last name as my parents were drunks and druggies who got pregnant again two years after having me. That's when they had Duo. They didn't give him a name though, before they died. I called him Kenneth for a while. When our parents died, we ended up on the streets." She ignored their shocked expressions and went on.   
  
"We met up with Solo and his gang of street brats a few years later. Lets see, I was five I think while Duo was still three. We joined." She gave a wistful smile. "I named by brother Duo and took on Trio to my name. D-boy and I became the number one pick pockets in the whole colony next to Solo who eventually taught us what he knew of martial arts, explosives, and weapons-specifically guns. We learned street fighting on our own. I can do practically any dirty trick you'd ever learn and some that you wouldn't. Anyway," her voice got softer, "Solo and a bunch of the younger kids came down with an incurable sickness about four years later. I wasn't even twelve yet. They eventually died, no matter how much medicine I stole for them. Solo made me promise that I'd get myself and Duo off the streets, that I'd do better for us. I took us to the Maxwell church where we were watched after and schooled in civilized things by Sister Helen and the residing priest." Lita went on to explain her and Duo's picnics and the day she was taken by Setsuna.  
  
"You knew who she was all this time?! You remembered?" Rei's voice was outraged.   
  
"I did. But it came at a terrible price, Rei. I have up my only family, my blood, my name, my past, and whatever future I would have had there for that knowledge. A price I wouldn't pay for any but you guys and Serenity.   
  
"I went back after our fight. I decided that I wanted to find my brother. And I did. Turns out that a year after I left, the church was burnt down by OZ soldiers and both the priest and Sister Helen were dead. Murdered. Duo was found by someone who trained him to be a soldier for the other side, the good guys. He's spent his life killing because I came here. Because I couldn't protect him." Her hand curled into a fist. "But he and four other specially trained boys banded together to save earth and the colonies and despite the odds, one the Eve wars and many battles after that. They are the saviors of earth and the colonies."  
  
"You said this meeting had to do with Usagi," Ami whispered after a few minutes of dead silence.   
  
"No. I said it had to do with Serenity. Serenity Usagi Reberbra Winner, actually. She is from my home, I found out, one sister of one of the four other boys, Quatre Reberba Winner, heir to the Winner Corporation, one of the richest people on or off planet. He also has another sister you may know. Haruka Tenisis Reberbra Winner."   
  
"What?!"   
  
"Usagi Tsukino is as good as dead. But Serenity is not. The Usagi we knew is not the same, as Serenity has always been smart, gracefull, and tactful. But underneath is Usagi's heart. The same heart we've all come to know and love."  
  
"She's alive." Minako smiled brilliantly. "So you mentioned a boyfriend?"  
  
"Yea," Lita laughed. Leave it up to Minako to brighten the mood. "My love of both lifetimes, Heero Yui, General Yui in the Silver Millennium. He friends call him the perfect soldier and he's my brother's best friend."   
  
"Perfect, huh?" Minako smiled evilly. "Even in bed? You two doing the horizontal-"  
  
"Minako!" Lita turned red. "None of your business."   
  
"Who are the other boys?" Ami asked.   
  
"Wufei Chang, the honorable dragon. Trowa Barton, Quatre's boyfriend-though their not out yet-known as the Silencer. My brother, Duo Maxwell, who insists on calling himself the Shinigami. Hotaru won't be too happy about that, now that I think about it. Quatre-the desert noble, and Heero-the perfect soldier. I have one month to teach you in martial arts, guns, explosives, stealth, history and mobile suit schematics." She looked around to judge reactions. Rei looked like she was on information overload and was deathly white. Ami looked both interested and frightened at the same time while Minako had a huge smile plastered on her face. They all turned when she spoke.   
  
"Oh goody." Everyone looked shocked.   
  
"Oh goody?" Rei repeated.   
  
"Yes. Oh goody." Minako smiled and then put on a serious and sad face. "Oh, I suppose I should tell you. I was born in this dimension," they all looked confused. "But I was raised as Minako Contessa Winner, twenty ninth child of the Winner family until I was nine. Then I was sent back here. Brilliant really, seeing how I just remembered!"   
  
"Minako, you…" Lita stuttered. "Hold up. Pluto said there was no more from that timeline."  
  
"Wrong. Lita, I said that there was none of them were born there. Minako was not born there, she was born here. I simply moved her back and forth." Setsuna stood on the rock in the middle of the lake. "Now I have to go, but I find it admirable, Mina, that you are not trying to hit me like Haruka and Lita both wanted to." Without another word, Setsuna disappeared.   
  
"Oh, don't worry, Sets," Minako said after the time senshi had disappeared. She ignored the looks on her friends faces too. "My revenge will be much, much more devastating then a bruise!" She gave an evil bought of laughter that reminding them slightly of Emerald and turned to her fellow senshi, stating with a smile, "shall we get started?"   
  
TBC  
  
TADA!! Oh, is anyone getting bored with this? Please let me know if you are. And if I don't get a substantial amount of reviews to push me on I may stop… not a threat, just a warning I guess. OH! If any of you were paying close enough attention, Rashid said that there were TWO Winner daughters in the picture Makoto had in her bag… but earlier I said that Usagi took the pic so it couldn't have been her and Haruka… YAY! I was subtle!  
  
P.S. Anyone ever watched Fruit Basket? Doesn't it ROCK?!! 


	11. You wanted to kill him

Author:  Fate's Child (Terra Brooks)

Date: April 8, 2002

E-mail:  Prncss_Earth@hotmail.com

Chapter 11

Author:  Fate's Child (Terra Brooks)

Date: April 21, 2002

E-mail:  Prncss_Earth@hotmail.com

Question:  does anyone read these damn notes at the top?!  Huh?  Because if you do, I would like to know why, in the previous chapter, when I stated that there was a two year different between Duo and Lita that the senshi were therefore 23 and the pilots –with the exception of Heero and Trowa- are 18.  Does 18 plus 2 equal 23?  I may be doing poorly in math, but seriously!!  

The senshi are : 21

G-boys: 19—Heero and Trowa 20

Going home and finding Serenity

As Serenity sat in the chair opposite Heero, she mentally went through a list of what she knew about the Gundam pilots.  When she stated that she didn't want any details left out, she wanted to make sure he included every major organization they had been against.  She had a gut feeling that something may come in handy later, if it was nothing but the technology that the organizations used.  

Heero gave a sigh when had first heard Serenity's order.  He knew she wanted the complete rundown, from the minute he had been capable of holding onto memories.  So he started with being on the streets, dressed in nothing but rags, and constantly going hungry.  Sympathy stirred in her eyes for the child he had been, but it was anger that replaced it when she heard of the "training" that Dr. J had put him through.  Hr gave her a small smile and moved on, indicating it was in the past.  He leapt into great detail, however, when it came to Operation Meteor and the Eve Wars.  It was this point in his life that he had first come across the pilots, the reincarnation of his friends.  He told of how Duo had shot him when they first met, and how, no matter how bad he tried, it seemed that even in his Perfect Soldier mode they became friends.  Light entered Serenity's eyes as she heard of their battles and their triumphs, both in personal struggles and the ones they faced as soldiers.  

As he finished, she stood silently and walked over to where he was.  As he looked up at her, the moon shone bright against the black sky and he realized that he had been talking for hours or more.  The others wouldn't be worried about him and Lita so much, but Quatre may be worried about his sister right now.  He opened his mouth to say so when she put her hand over his mouth. 

"Heero.  I am sorry for the trials you have had to endure this lifetime.  I am sorry that I was not able to be here to share them with you, as your friend and your Princess.  But mostly, I am sorry that you have to be apart from Lita now."  Her eyes grew a bit harder and he knew that he was about to be ordered.  He smiled mentally.  She was still easy to read, it wasn't in her to be deceitful when it came to her true emotions.  "You are never to hide your emotions for me."  

He smiled outright then.  "Is that an order?"  She smiled back. 

"A request, from an old friend.  But if you think you're going to have a hard time following it, you can treat it as an order, a kind of mission."  A mischievous glint lit her eyes.  "Mission accepted or declined, soldier?"

"Mission Accepted," he replied, his voice gone flat.  At her level stare, he almost flushed.  "Force of habit.  It'll probably take me a while to be back to General Yui and be comfortable showing my emotions to others."

"I understand."  She winced lightly, "that's almost creepy, Heero, how you can make your voice go flat like that."  

"Yeah, you're telling me."

"But they never broke you, did they?  Never took away your humanity.  You learned to hide it instead of losing it."  He nodded.

"They should title me the Master Deceiver, not the Perfect Soldier."  He shook his head.  "On another note, what do you want to tell the other pilots?"  

"I would like them to live a normal life for little bit longer."  She tapped her finger against her lower lip and narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.  "But I don't know how long we can pull it off.  Duo will definitely want to know what happened to his sister.  He was always protective with her so if he tries to hurt you or me to find out where she is-"

"He won't hurt you.  Me on the other hand…"  Heero trailed off, a smile in his voice.  

"So we'll revive Duo's memories.  Setsuna did something with Rei and Wufei's lives that I haven't quite figured out yet.  Something about his now dead wife.  I don't want to awaken Wufei's memories yet and Quatre and Trowa are so happy with their lives."  Her voice took on a puzzled tone.  "I don't know what happened to Endymion."  

"What are you talking about?"  Heero asked, annoyance creeping into his voice at the mention of the earth prince's name.  

"Mamo-chan has to be worried about me by now."  She winced.  "Which means Mako-chan will get heat for it.  Don't worry," she added as she saw the look of anger on Heero's face.  "He won't hurt her and if he tried she'd fry him.  But it just seems odd that he hasn't…"  She sighed.  "Damn it."  Her voice took on a hard edge one only heard when she was really angry.  "Damn it!"  

"Want to share with the class?"  Heero joked, trying to get her to lighten up. 

"You hardly count as an entire class, General Yui, though you do have the maturity of a five year old sometimes," she snapped.  

"Hey Ren, what's up?"  She gave him a cold glare. 

"He hasn't asked because he already expected me to be dead.  I thought it was odd that Haruka or Michiru hadn't mentioned that he had been frantic to find me.  Now I know why.  He thinks that I'm dead and that he's broken up the Sailor senshi."

"Still not following," Heero told her as she began to pace.  

"The youma that was sent after Mako-chan and I.  We thought it was odd, but shrugged it off.  I mean, we haven't had an youma since the defeat of Beryl and we thought it was really strange, but it was something we could wait to speak with the other senshi about.  The only thing with the energy of the Dark Kingdom-the only known thing to **survive the dark kingdom, was my dear, dear Mamo-chan."**

"Mamo-chan?"

"Damn it, Yui!  Endymion!  The man I've been dating for the past six years or so!  I didn't particularly like him, but it was a lose, lose situation.  We needed Tuxedo Kamen for battles-Goddess only knows why, 'cause I certainly don't-and so I had to pretend to like him.  He didn't have me completely fooled, but I thought he was nice enough.  A little cold, but nice enough.  But-"

"Serenity, you need to sit down, take a breath and tell me your story.  From the minute you left this dimension."  Heero's eyes were hard.  "It seems that you don't quite remember what a slime Endymion was."  

"Wasn't I engaged to him?"  Her voice was curious.  

"Engaged?"  He gave a quick, heart felt laugh.  "If I remember correctly three weeks after your first meeting, you wanted to kill him."    
  


*     *     *

"Of all the arrogant, egotistical, evil things to do!"  The girls watched in amusement as their usually collected princess paced the room back and forth.  

"Want to tell us what's wrong, Serenity, or are you going to just go around cursing some unknown foe all day?"  Makoto asked, leaning back into her chair.

"Endymion!  That damn asshole!"  Everyone in the room looked close to laughter.  It was not unusual for Makoto, Haruka and Rei to lose their tempers.  When Minako and surprisingly Michiru lost their tempers, it was quick and furious.  When Ami, Serenity or Hotaru lost theirs, however, it was long and it was vicious.  They were slow to anger, but it lasted.  Setsuna insisted she never REALLY lost her temper.  Of course she did control the time gates and it wasn't her fault when a violent wind storm that was scheduled for a week later happened to severely injure the man that had insulted her planet.  

"What did he do?  Last week you were all a flutter about his pretty blue eyes," Haruka teased.  

"Shut up!"  She turned furious eyes on her cousin.  Everyone in the room straightened.  

"Ren, what's wrong?"  Ami asked this time.  

"I am good at reading auras, reading the hearts of people!  Yet he managed to get past.  I was nothing more then a simpering female at his disposal!"  She shrieked.  

"You weren't that bad, Renity."  Minako soothed.  They all HAD been wondering what was up with Serenity lately, but…

"He.  Was.  Using.  Magic.  To. Interfere.  With.  My.  Powers."  She spaced each word out between clenched teeth.  "He.  Wants.  To.  Sleep.  With.  Me.  To.  Gain.  Power."  When her friends began to shoot off energy, she knew she had gotten through to them.  

"He what?"  Makoto's voice had gone soft but had taken on a dangerous edge.  "He knows that you and my brother are an item.  The whole kingdom knows you and my brother are an item."  

"But he obviously wants to "ravish her until she doesn't know what her own name is, much less that she shouldn't be telling me the secrets to her kingdom.  She's practically a piece of clay in my hands already.  And I won't mind molding her.  I won't mind having my hands on her at all"."  Everyone turned to look at the shadow that was lounging in a corner.  

"Heero?"  Makoto asked.  The shadow nodded.  

"We didn't like him and have been fallowing him around for a week.  This was the first incriminating evidence we'd got against him though."  

"He obviously doesn't care that Ren was simply being hospitable to him," said another voice from the opposite corner of the room.  Ami let up a shriek as Duo stepped out from behind a column. 

"All of you, get out here right now!"  She demanded.  "I don't like being crept up on!" Wufei, Trowa and Quatre all stepped out into the open.  

"I was taken in by his good looks and what seemed to be a charming personality," Serenity admitted.  "But I am in LOVE with Duo and my feelings are not so shallow that I would jump into bed with him!!"  Duo flashed a smile.  

"Thanks babe!"  She growled at him and glared.  

"I _hate it when you call me that!"  He smiled, she glowered.  "I want to kill him."  It came out as a hiss.  _

"Can't do that.  But we can send him home and shut off the links to earth."  Trowa suggested. 

"But we _can't do that," Serenity whispered.  Quatre nodded in agreement.  _

"I agree with my sister.  We can't simply decide that all of the Terran people are the same as that one slime ball.  I mean, what if Haruka was the only member of the Silver Millennium they had ever met?"  Quatre teased his cousin.  "They'd think all of our females looked like males and visa versa."  Haruka threw a pillow at him.  

"What do we do then?"  Michiru asked.  

"Oh, this'll be good," Rei smiled, rubbing her hands together.  "We make his life here a living hell."  

*     *     *

To be continued…

That was a flashback to anyone who didn't get it.  Sorry this chapter is short, but I am major stressed with school and it was a stretch to get this one out.  Here's the deal, I want to know that people like this story.  I am having a really hard time finding time to write (it's times like these I wish I was Pluto) so I need to know that you like this story and don't want to wait until the end of june (when school gets out) to read the rest of the chapters and the end!  You NEED to review because my ego is deflating and when that happens, no new or good chapters come out.  


	12. Suprise #1 for Rei

No, your eyes do not deceive you, I really am back.  I know it's been a long time since I've update (the longest it's ever taken me, in fact) but you should notice that this is the most complex story I've written so far.  The others kinda suck.  (except for 'merry Christmas, Mr. Yui' and 'Let's get one thing straight… I'm not')  Anyway, the main problem is that I was finishing up school and had a bunch of finals and then the day after school let out for summer I left for Japan for a month.  I went to school for two weeks there (it was hard cause all the classes were in Japanese) and then visited my family for the remainder of the time.  I had a BLAST by the way and bought all of the Fruit Basket manga that's out so far.  After that, I came home and started working as well as having some home problems.  Then, I started to finish these chapters and my best friend's grandfather died.  My mother has known my best friend's father since she was ten and so she grew up with his family much like I have grown up with Justin (my best friend).  She was devastated and still is.  I took some time to just be with her.  

I hope you like these two chapters, I was kinda iffy on this one.  

Sorry for the wait, Read and Review if you want the next chapter, I already have it done.  

Chapter 12 

Author:  Fate's Child (Terra Brooks)

Date: April 30, 2002

E-mail:  Prncss_Earth@hotmail.com

"Damn."  Serenity gave a quick frown.  "I forgot about that.  We did make his life a living hell though, didn't we?"  Heero smiled back.  

"Yeah.  Since Makoto was in charge of the kitchens all of his meals were messed up.  Everyone targeted him in practice, Michiru and Haruka refused to play music when he was in the room, Rei accidentally burned his clothes, Ami made sure that any book he wanted in the library was out and you-"  He broke off and blushed.  

"Are you blushing, Heero?!"  Serenity smirked.  "It wasn't that bad.  You guys just made sure to lead Endymion to me while Duo and I were… occupied."

"He almost had a heart attack."  Heero smiled.  

"My memories of him are a little fuzzy, though.  Could you tell me who I was engaged to?"

"Actually, for all intents and purposes, you were engaged to Duo.  But because he wasn't from Earth and your mother thought of the alliance thing, she was going to talk to you about marrying the Earth Prince."  He sneered.  "We told her to ask you and you told her no way in high holy hell would you ever agree to even be in the same room with him if you had your way.  Pretty soon he got upset and left the palace with those snot nose guards of his." 

"I killed them."  For the first time since doing so, Serenity was glad.  She suddenly remembered how-  "Oh my god."  Her voice dropped.  "I killed all of them."  

"What?"  

"Beryl's generals.  I killed all of them.  Well, Beryl killed Zoicyte and put Jadeite into a crystal.  Nephrite was killed by Zoi, so I guess it was just Kunzite that I killed." 

"Who?"

"The generals I was telling you about.  Beryl's minons?  I'd forgotten."  Her voice got soft.  "Jadeite and Nephrite were pure evil along with Endymion even back in the Silver Millennium.  But Zack (Zoi) and Keven (Kunzite) were in love with Ami and Minako."  Heero looked solemn as Serenity lowered her head trying to come to terms with the fact that she'd killed her best friend's lovers.  

*     *     *

"You know, I never figured you for a sadistic bitch," Rei said thoughtfully as she looked at Lita from where she was perched on the ground.  

"I never figured you all were THAT out of shape.  With the exception of Minako, you guys'll never be ready!"  Makoto gripped.  Rei and Ami just glared.  "Anyway, we'll have one more joining us in a few minutes.  She just went to go get some supplies…" Makoto smiled.  

"Who?" Minako questioned.  She looked down at her friends in amused disappointment.  "You guys, it's only been one day.  Not even.  It's the end of the first day, only six hours since Mako-chan told you."  Before either senshi could come up with a come back, a quiet voice broke into their thoughts.  

"I'm here, guys."  They all turned around to notice the senshi of rebirth and silence.  

"Heya, Taru!"  Minako chirped.  

"Run, Hotaru," Ami groaned.  "You're too young to be tortured like this. Run while you still can!"  Everyone looked at Ami in mild amazement for a moment since the comment was so out of character.  

"No thanks, Ami-san."  Hotaru replied.  "I already started training with Haruka-papa a long time ago.  I still have a lot to learn from Mako-chan though."  She dropped the three bags she'd been carrying.  "Here's the supplies."  

"Thanks T…"  Makoto gave one last look of amused disgust to the senshi on the ground.  "**_I am going to head home and shower, pick up a few things from the apartment and plan on staying here for the remainder of the training period.  I suggest that ALL of you find a way to skip school.  All your attention needs to be focused here, on me."  Ami opened her mouth, but Minako beat her too it. _**

"You guys have no clue what it is like living in the AC period.  It's tough, it's dirty, and it's dangerous.  If we're expected to fight during that time we're going to need every second of this month.  When we get back, if we get back, we can study all we want.  But for now…" she gave a grim smile, "we're out of school.  Besides, Ami, you're like twenty two chapters ahead." 

"How are we going to convince everyone that it's okay to be out of school?"

"I'll take care of it."  Makoto smiled.  "I'll hack into the school data base and send out an e-mail telling the head of school that we've all been chosen to do a strict program here at the temple by a very important teacher.  Your grandfather will vouch he's taking care of it."  Rei paled. 

"Grandpa?  What are you going to do to-"

"Nothing that hasn't already been done, Rei."  The fire senshi tried not to gape as her grandfather walked out of the temple, much taller then he'd been before.  He was still short, but…

"Grandpa?"

"Yes and no.  In the future I am one of the doctors who creates the gundams.  Specifically, Gundam 05.  They call me Master, or Doctor O."  Rei sat dumbfounded for a moment before turning to Makoto with a hurt anger in her eyes.  

"You _knew about this?"_

"I just learned recently that Pluto had your grandfather taken back in time to watch over us-"

"And it never occurred to you to tell me?!"  

"Rei, we just made up with each other.  Don't do this."  Mako's voice was quiet.  

"And you're just sooooo calm."  Rei rolled her eyes.  "Sure, why shouldn't you be?  I mean, no one lied to you."

"Rei, what do you want me to say?"  Makoto angrily spun on her heels.  "You want me to show up and say 'hi, Rei your grandfather's not really your grandfather, he's a crazy doctor from the future that builds a killing machine'?  I figured that he'd tell you when he was ready. You want to try hiding everything that you are from the people that are supposed to be your friends?  You think that this was easy for me?  You think that pretending that I was all alone was easy when I knew that my little brother was in a future where he could be killed for trying to survive?"  

"Makoto-"

"No.  You all shut up and listen to me.  We are supposed to be a team.  We are supposed to trust each other not because our lives usually depend on it but because we're supposed to be friends.  Best friends.  And best friends try to share everything together.  But because of some bad twist in the timeline, that's not how it worked out.  Haruka, Usagi, Minako and I all had to either forget or hide who we really were.  There was deceit and lies and-" she broke off with a frustrated scream.  "You want to yell at me, fine.  Maybe I deserve it.  But do it now.  When this night is over we will either be friends or I will simply be your commanding officer."

"I'm sorry, okay?  I'm sorry!" Rei turned around and looked at her grandfather.  "You should have told me!  I hate being lied to and deceived, you know that!  My father did too much deceiving."  Here eyes started to sting with tears and she angrily wiped away a tear.  "I hate this!  I hate doing this!"  Minako put a hand on her shoulder. 

"Crying?"  

"No, fighting with you guys.  I beat myself up after I pushed you away.  And I… I just want things to get back to the way it was before.  I don't want to have to learn to live another life."  Makoto narrowed her eyes.  'Damn, this is a pointless argument.  What's she getting at?'

"What's really bothering you, Rei?"

"I killed her, okay?!"  

"Killed her?"

"Usagi, Serenity, whoever the hell she is!  I know that I should have been there, everything you said that night was right."  

"No, not everything.  I know this isn't going to be easy, Rei.  I know this is going to be one of the hardest things we'll all have to do.  But trust me, your life is about to get a whole lot better.  I personally know that the future has some very important… things involved."  

"I'm incapable of having healthy relationships with anyone."  Rei turned around and started to walk away.  

"Rei Hino, you freeze right now."  It was Ami that spoke.  

"You think that this is supposed to be easy?"  Hotaru asked.  

"It's going to be hard and painful, but that's what friendships about."  Minako looked at her seriously.  

"Where do you think they get all the clichés from?  Friendship, just like true love hurts like hell.  But it's the laughter and the study groups that dissolved into gossip sessions and the shopping and the trusting and healing that make friendship worth it."   

"How can you put up with me?"

"Because we love you, silly."  Minako giggled.  

"And because as much pain as you're in, Rei, we've felt it too.  We all lost something that night and instead of banding together like we should have, we fought and slashed each other to bits because we were hurting.  With the exception of Usagi, none of us ever had friends, REAL friends before."  Makoto looked at Ami and the ice senshi picked up where the brunette had left off. 

"And maybe we started out the wrong way.  We all have what it takes to be great friends, friends that will be together forever."  Ami started to pace, a habit she had never showed in front of the senshi.  It showed that she didn't have complete control or full knowledge of everything around her-something she'd always seen as a weakness.  As she figured things out, she mentally smiled.  Not anymore.  They were going to get all of Ami.  "But we didn't start out as friends, we started out as teammates.  And while this may work for other, being a group of young adolescent girls… we all felt, on some level that we HAD to become friends.  That we HAD to protect our princess and do our duty.  And we started out doing it because it was our duty and not because we were friends.  That's how it was in the Silver Millennium and how it should have been here.  We should have found each other and befriended each other and LOVED each other before we started fighting.  Because that's what Usagi always saw that we didn't.  She saw us for ourselves, she saw us as friends before she ever saw us as senshi.  Do you remember the first time you met her?"  Ami continued after a short pause.  

"Before she found out that I was the senshi of Mercury, she went out of her way to apologize for participating in the gossip about me.  Then she brought me to the arcade.  She tried to be my friend before she tried to be my princess and fellow senshi."

"She said that I was incredible for doing what I was doing: training to be a Shinto priestess."  Rei said, looking up at her friends.  

"She sat with me at lunch even though every one told her I was the karate maniac."  

"She let Chibi-Usa become friends with me regardless-"  Everyone paused at Hotaru's comment.  

"Oh god!  Chibi-Usa!"  Ami looked panicked and took out her computer.  

"That pink haired devil was a POSSIBLE future for us.  Not the one we're having though.  Don't worry about it."  Makoto smiled at the slightly relieved look on everyone's face.  "Has anyone seen Mamoru lately?"

"Nope.  He disappeared almost as soon as you did.  We haven't heard from him since."  Minako looked thoughtful.  "Not that I mind because she didn't love him."  All of the senshi looked shocked.  Makoto sighed and explained EVERYTHING Serenity had said to her before she'd died.  After another bought of tears over how they couldn't believe what awful friends they'd been, everyone came to the same conclusion.  

"Friends first, senshi last."  It was a dangerous thing to do, promise that they would fight with their hearts first and not their warrior instincts but it was what Serenity had always done and she was the greatest friend and leader they could have ever had.  Makoto and the senshi (minus Rei) decided to head to home for showers and most of their things-they also decided they would all move into the temple to train and learn more about each other-Rei headed in to talk to her grandfather.  

Before entering the temple, Rei looked up into the sky and smiled at the moon.  Maybe things would be okay after all.  For them all.  

End chapter.  

August 4, 2002

If you ask me why it has taken roughly five days for this to be posted read about Justin's grandfather on the top of the page at author's notes.  The next chapter is a little longer and will be out tomorrow or the next day depending on when I can get to a computer to post it.  But let me tell you one thing.  No reviews, no chapters.  Love you all, 

Fate


	13. Rei's conflict and the awakening

Short chapter, but a chapter none the less.  Anyway, let me know what you think, the amount of reviews for the last chapter sucked.  

Thank you to all who reviewed the last chapter:

Sailor Emerald:  the answer to your question.  In "real" life, I suppose that GW and SM are different dimensions, but in my story, the AC timeline is simply what happed when there are no senshi from the destruction of Galexia to the building of the colonies.  If you need more info, e-mail me, you have my private address.  P.s.  Hope you had a blast in Disneyland.  

LadyAnimeAllegra

Z.Z Zarah

Faith

:-)

Zaeria

WindRider-Damia

Chapter 13

Author:  Fate's Child (Terra Brooks)

Date: August 4, 2002

E-mail:  Prncss_Earth@hotmail.com

"You're not my grandfather, then?"  She was appalled to find tears in her eyes as she found the man she thought was family in the great fire room.  "You lied to me.  You told me you'd always be there for me.  That you'd never betray me like he did.  You lied, you're just like him."  

"Rei, I wouldn't have lied to you if I had a choice.  But at first you were too young, your grief too fresh from your mother's death.  And then… part of me hoped that I'd never have to go back.  That I'd never have to subject you to the trials I know you'll have to endure."  When Rei moved to leave the room his voice turned desperate.  "And I didn't want to lose you.  I love you, girl!"  Rei stopped moving.  "I started to love you along the way.  Somewhere you ceased being a mission, a means for future peace."  He dropped his head.  "And I feared the day when I'd have to tell you the truth because I'd lose you.  I'd stop being your family and I would have to hurt you."  Rei didn't turn around, but her voice was slow as she spoke.  

"My father is my blood.  But you... you have become my family."  This time she turned and there was tears in her eyes.  "I love you grandpa."  She ran into his arms.  "I love you."  She gave a weak smile.  "Nothing you know about the trials of the future or anything else could make me forget that."  As she continued to hug him, Master O tried to fight down a feeling of amusement.  'I have a feeling, my girl, that you will forget all too soon'.  He thought to what Mistress Pluto had in store for his granddaughter.  There was a young pilot back home who would create brand new feelings and frustrations.  

At the door, Makoto gave a small smile.  She had come back to ask Master O something when she heard the rest of their talk.  She started as Pluto's words floated through her head.  'You remember the story of Inuyasha?  Only this time…'  She gave a feral smile and wondered what was in store of the rest of her friends.  

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    

"We'll find a way to bring them back, Serenity,"  Heero's voice was soft.  "I promise that."

"They're dead," her voice was flat.  "And I killed one of them with the crystal so there's no bringing him back with it even if it were possible."  Heero resisted the urge to roll his eyes. 

"My goddess, have you no faith.  Do you remember the one rule about our soul mates?"  When the confused look passed through her eyes, he sighed again.  "Do you remember ANYTHING?"

"I remember A LOT, Mr. hotshot.  Just not this."  

"It was Minako's favorite thing to say before someone found their soul mate."  Serenity narrowed her eyes.  

"She said that although you may not be with them eternally in one life, you will be given a chance every time around.  I always thought it was stupid of her to say that in such a hopeful voice cause what if you met them when they were dying or something." 

"But she also told us that for you senshi, the leaders of the planets, you would always find love and be given the opportunity to grasp it with both hands… twice.  Because your lives and powers thrive off of love and justice, without your own love possessed to it's fullest your power would diminish greatly." 

"So there's still a chance."

"Always."  Serenity smiled. 

"How are we going to wake Duo's memories without raising suspicion," she asked effectively changing the subject.  Heero just raised an eyebrow. "He'll be out for a day, or more, knowing him."  She looked thoughtful.  "I don't suppose you could fabricate a mission for him?"

"I could," Heero spoke slowly.  "But why wasn't I out for a day?"

"Because it was my mother who called you to her plane of existence.  Had it been in this plane while you were still conscience, like what we're going to do to my love, you'd have been out like a light."  

"I remember.  So when will we do this?  The sooner the better, I think."  When Serenity just looked at him, he sighed.  "What do you think he'll try to do to me when he finds out that Lita is missing and I was the last person to see her?"  Her mouth formed an 'o'.

"We can call him here, if you don't mind, under the pretence of giving him a mission.  

"Okay.  I'll go do that while you…"

"I'm going to call Michiru and Haruka so that I can give them their memories too.  While I can't give myself memories from the Silver Millennium, I **can give them theirs.  And while I don't particularly want to, if we have to deal with the three lights, Haruka'll be a lot more tolerant if she remembers I'm involved with someone she likes and respects."**

"Of course she could just use it as a handy plan to sic Duo on Seiya," Heero pointed out with a small smirk.  Serenity schowled.  

"She will not, I'll make it an order if I must.  And, Mr. Perfect Soldier, you will not give him a hard time either.  If I read him correctly, I was a very handy distraction from his Princess… who's the one he really loves."  Heero looked surprised.  

"Oh.  But what about what your mother said about getting him and Relena…"  Serenity shrugged. 

"Who knows what mother has in store.  It could have to do with the fact that he was obsessed with me for a while and Relena's obsessed with you or something… I really don't know."  A.N.  Not only does Serenity not know… this author still doesn't know why she typed that. ^_^()  "Anyway, go make your phone call."

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    

Everything had gone according to their plan and Heero and Serenity were currently waiting for Duo, Haruka and Michiru to wake up.  It was the night of the second day and everyone had bought the story that duo was on a mission while Haruka and Michiru were out getting some things from their old residence.  Surprisingly, Duo was the first to stir.  

"Ouch.  Did anyone get the number of that Leo?"  He slowly opened his eyes a blinked up at Serenity's looming face.  "My god, Ren, it's good to see you.  I mean really see you."  He gave a weak smile.  "My muscles are so sore I can barely sit up.  Wanna come down here have give me a kiss?"   With a smile she did, pulling him into a sitting position when she was done.  

"Missed you," She whispered against his hair.  

"Missed you too."  He looked up at Heero.  "I guess this means you already remember?"

"Yup."  Heero rocked back on his heals before smiling.  "It's been hell keeping up the perfect soldier routine 24/7."

"What do you think the guys'll do when I act really serious?"

"Don't know," Heero grinned.  "What do you think they'll do when they find out you're related to the Goddess of Death?"  Haruka's voice broke into their conversation.  

"More importantly, D-boy, we're not giving Quatre back his memories yet so your question should be: what do you think Quat will do when he finds out you're dating his younger sister?"  Heero and Duo just stared at each other before paling.  

"He'll go Zero on me, won't he?"  Duo asked.  Everyone just nodded. 

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Finished: August 15, 2002

I already have the next part of this chapter done, I split it into two parts.  Here's the deal: No reviews, no chapter.  There was only seven reviews for the last one and I know more people are reading it.  If not enough people review then I'll just send the rest of the story to those who do review and stop posting, so please add your e-mail to your review or do a signed one.  


	14. Stars and Tears

Thank you very much for the reviews, you guys really came through.  Please keep it up.  I know this is short but my computer is broken and this is all that I'd saved before my computer caught a virus.  I'm on a library computer right now.  

Nixie*Star

Kourui

LadyAnimeAllegra

Lady tigeress

Zaeria

Julie

Jovian Goddess – thanks for both the reviews!!

Braided Baka Girl

Gota de Mar

Snowfox

WindRider-Damia

Nebula Sky – to answer your question Duo and Mako ARE siblings, but since Duo does have the powers of Shinigami and Hotaru 

is the Senshi of Death and destruction Duo has to have the blood of Saturn in him which means… oops, can't tell you 

that yet.  ::winks::  you'll just have to wait and see.  

Sailor Emerald – glad your having a good time

Baby blue eyes 

Chapter 14

Author:  Fate's Child (Terra Brooks)

Date: August 18, 2002

E-mail:  Prncss_Earth@hotmail.com

     Hotaru took a seat next to Makoto on the roof of Rei's temple.  Many times during their month of training, she'd wake to find her friend and fellow senshi gone from her bed.  Most often, this was where she could be found.  

     "Worries?"  Makoto didn't move her gaze from where she had it fixed: on the city lights of Tokyo, even when Hotaru spoke.  

     "Maybe.  I think they do remember their training from the Silver Millennium at least.  But is it enough?  I've got more, I know what the AC timeline is like and I don't even know if I'm ready."

     "Nervous?"  Makoto smiled.  

     "That too.  The last thing he said to me was that he loved me, but…"

     "A month isn't so long."  Hotaru stood.  "I'll see you in the morning."  And she left, leaving Makoto to her own thoughts.  A few moments later a tear worked it's way down Makoto's cheek.  

     "A month is too long when backed by Millennia's… Do you still love me?  Can you love who I've become?  An ex thief and a troublemaker?  Someone who for even a second forgot her brother for duty?"  She stared at the moon, more tears running down her face.  "Can I be sure I love you for you and not the memory of who or what you were?"  Hundreds of years away, a boy stared out at moon and cried, asking the same questions.  

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

     Serenity sat snuggled in Duo's embrace and sighed contently.  A great many things had happened in the past month.  The first had been breaking the news of their relationship to her brother.  Quatre had not taken it well at first, having nearly taken off the self proclaimed Shinigami's head with an ornamental sword that had previously rested on the wall.  After being restrained by Haruka, Michiru and, (most effectively) Trowa, Serenity and Duo had calmly explained that they had found they had many things in common and had decided to see where these same interests led them.  Quatre had nearly broken free of all three of his captors when he saw Heero leaning against the far wall smirking, his eyes dancing with amusement.  The sight had him stopping his struggles and staring in disbelief.  The look was soon gone from the perfect soldier's face, but the effect of it remained imprinted on Quatre's heart and the blond boy decided to let his sister and his friend be for the time being.  In time he saw that Duo did hold a fondness for the silver haired Winner that he had never seen from the Deathcythe pilot and gave them his blessing.  In other words, he stopped trying to kill his friend at every opportunity.

     Another thing she'd done was listen to Heero's message from her mother and contact the starlights-who were indeed on their way to earth.  After assuring them that she was not being kept prisoner, she told them that the future they had thought would come to pass was altered and that not even the guardian of time knew exactly what would come.  She told them of her life here, noting with a smile that Seiya and the Princess seemed to have grown closer over the time they had been in their home galaxy.  

     The starlights were due to arrive next week.  She had tried to contact Setsuna and find out where exactly Makoto had gone and if and when she was going to return, but the senshi of time had ignored her every attempt.  Heero had become increasingly surly, the rest of the pilots had become used to him showing some emotions, writing it off as simply the effects of his affection for Lita and her disappearance.  The rest of the pilots had been told that Lita had to finish some unfinished business-that the person she thought was dead was not-and that there was work to be done back home.  Since Duo was not worried, the rest of the pilots were at ease, waiting the day that they would see their dark haired friend.  Trowa and Quatre had finally come out and among stuttering, admitted that they were in love.  Everyone had only smiled, since they had already known.  It was only a few more minutes until Duo stirred.  

     "Serenity?"  She smiled at the worried tone in his voice.  The link of love they'd shared in the Silver Millennium had begun coming back, allowing one to feel the other's pain.  She often wondered of the supposed link between her and Mamoru.  She had never felt his pain or need, yet he claimed to have felt hers.  

     "Just thinking, love."  

     "About?"

     "What lies ahead."  

     "We will get through it.  We always manage."  He squeezed her shoulders reassuringly as she gazed up at him.  

     "But always at a great price," she murmured, thinking of her mother's death, Mamoru's imprisonment by Beryl, the death of innocents in a youma attack… "I cannot help but wonder what the price will be this time."

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    

     The senshi had all woken up in different moods.  For Minako, it was excitement over seeing her brother again, for Rei, unease, for the past month she had gotten the idea that her grandfather and Makoto were keeping something from her.  Ami felt curiosity at the new civilization they would be entering, Hotaru was with Mianko, excitement over seeing her "mother" and "father" again.  Makoto… Makoto was both elated and nervous at seeing her love again, and Master O… Master O was simply amused at their emotions.  There was one feeling, however, that ran through the veins of all the senshi, however, and that was fear.  Fear of what was to come.  

     They all gathered at the back courtyard of the temple, awaiting the arrival of Sailor Pluto.  When the senshi of time showed up, she changed all of their henshin wands into necklaces as she had done with Makoto's those many months ago.  She then gave the senshi of Jupiter a key that looked as if it had been softened and twisted into a spiral.  

     "This is a time and dimension key.  Makoto, use the same words that you sue to go through the gate at the gate of time.  I will see you all when the time is right, know that Serenity is with you and open your minds and hearts.  At times, I know that you all wish that the duty of the world did not fall on you.  Yet I beg you to remember that all that live to see such times of war wish the same.  All we have to do is decide what to do with the situations we're given.  Choose well, my friends, and let your hearts guide you.  Master O, you are to come with me, as for the rest of you senshi, you are not to mention you know him until you meet again."  And without another word, the senshi of time and the Master of Gundam 05 disappeared.  Makoto turned to her friends and gave a weak smile.  

     "Remember to try and call me either Lita or Trio and do not mention the senshi to any but Haruka, Michiru, Serenity and Heero as we do not yet know who knows about us."  She waited until everyone nodded and then lifted the key above her head.  "Time flows but does not break, another future sent to make, with Fate and Destiny on our side, we all set out to take time's ride."  A flash of light blinded the senshi and when it faded, there was no one left at the temple.  

End chapter

Please review.  Heero and Mako together in the next chapter. 


	15. Almost Home

         Okay.  I know it's been a long time, but I started school and things got really hectic.  Not to mention I'm going against the clock to get all my college aps in.  Let's hear it for senior year!  I hope everyone's life's been going well.  This chapter hold a LOT of surprises and so… I hope you enjoy. 

Kourui- ::gasp:: Lose EVERYTHING?!  No!!!!!!!  I'm sorry for you… and yes, you did scare me.

Nebula Sky-  ::laughs::  you'll find out within the next two chapters… I promise.  

Gota de Mar-  I'm so glad you liked the last chapter… hmmmm I hadn't really given any thought to Duo's body type.   And I'll have to make Heero cry one more time, at least… but that's it, I promise.

Keimei-  Thank you so much!!!  ::sob::  You make me feel soooo loved!!  I too am a fan of Heero/Duo fics… if you go to my other stories you'll see 'Meery Christmas, Heero Yui', a short one.  Oh, and I'm working on another one called Fixing Wing… I'll try to post it today.  ::winks:: You'll have to wait until later to see HOW Duo and Hotaru are related…

Angel Triton aka HS- I'm sorry I made you cry, but glad that you're so into this story!

Thanks also to: baby blu eyes, Jupiter's Light, J Child Rules, Girl of darkness, Destiny's tears, Angel and Devil, Blade Hunter, LadyAnimeAllegra, Tirgress Moon, WindRider-Damia, Datajana! 

Keep up the Reviews!!  I LOVE THEM!

Chapter 15

Author:  Fate's Child (Terra Brooks)

Date:  September 29, 2002

E-mail:  Prncss_Earth@hotmail.com

        To those in the Sank Kingdom that were awake in the early morning hours, the bright flash of light that illuminated the city was mistaken for a power surge.  Since it only lasted a fraction of a second, no one bothered to look for another explanation. There were only five people to whom that instantaneous flash of light made a world of difference. 

        "This is it, isn't it, Mako…Lita?"  Hotaru's soft voice was the first sound the senshi heard since arriving.  It seemed as if even the wildlife had been stunned by their arrival.

        "Yup.  If you give me a minute, I should be able to tell you where we are-with the help of the Mercury computer of course," Ami just smiled and took out the small computer.  Mianko took a minute to do a weird dance, singing 'I'm home, I'm home' under her breath.  Only Rei was completely silent. 

        "Here's a map of where we are, Lita."

        "Thanks Ami."  She took a moment to study the small map.  "Okay.  We're only about two and a half miles from Quatre's mansion… Rei, are you okay?"  Lita finally noticed that her friend had bother her eyes closed, arms spread wide and her head tipped back.  It seemed as though the priestess was taking deep breaths.  "Rei?"  Lita tried again after a few moments.

        "I feel so incredibly free here.  It's like everything will be all right.  It's as if I've found my whole self, as if I had been missing a piece of who I was."  Minako's gaze sharpened and she opened her mouth to saw something when she caught the look that Lita was throwing in her direction. 

        "Probably the air," Lita teased.  Rei gave a full smile before beginning to walk forward.  Minako fell behind with Lita for a moment.

        "It sounded like she was describing a soul bond," the Goddess of love murmured.

        "She was.  Her chosen one is here, Mianko.  But to tell her…"

        "Would ruin it all.  I understand, Lita."  With a smile, Lita once again took the lead. 

.        .        .

        Serenity Winner was very nearly trembling in anticipation.  She had felt five transformed senshi enter the A.C. timeline only a few moments before.  They were all here and in a short hour, they would once again all be reunited.  Duo murmured something in his sleep and turned his head from where it rested in her lap.  Trying very hard to focus on the end of the Lord of the Rings video they were watching, a small giggle escaped her.  

        "You feel like sharing?"  Duo's voice was sleepy.

        "What?"  Serenity feigned confusion. 

        "You're going crazy.  It feels like you're waiting for Christmas morning."

        "It's better then Christmas morning." 

        "Better?"  His eyes widened. "No." 

        "Yup."  Another giggle.  "They're back.  She's back.  They're all home."  Duo sat up so fast it made his head spin. 

        "Now?  She's here now?" His thoughts raced as he thought of the last time he'd seen-really seen- his sister.  "They're here?  All of them?"  He paled for a second as he remembered his Chinese friend's reaction to woman.  

        "They're here, about a two miles away."  Serenity's voice gave way to a squeal.

        "Let's go pick them up!"  Duo stood too fast and fell backwards after a moment of dizziness.  

        "Duo," Serenity giggled, "number one, neither of us could drive in this condition of excitement and two… don't' forget that not everyone has their memories back yet." 

        "Oh yeah."  He smiled, "can we give them their-"

        "No."  Serenity's voice turned solemn.  "No.  They are different then they were and in love, truth, and happiness are to find a place in their lives it will be first as woman and then as senshi.  They are not-just as we are not- the same people who were people born as royalty. 

        "Not everyone was royalty," Duo sniffed indigently. 

        "Duo!  You know what I mean."  Duo smiled at his girlfriend's exasperation.

        "Yeah, yeah.  I love you Serenity.  As you, not just as the Princess I once loved." 

        "And I love you as you too, Duo Maxwell."  Serenity gave a small smile, "not as who you where, the guardian of Death."  

        "God of Death, Ren."  

        "Still delusional, love, you're no God."  Serenity smiled at the wicked grin on her soul mate's face.

        "But Serenity, that's not what you said last night.  In fact, if I remember correctly, you called me a God several times…" 

.        .        .

        "Lita, are you sure you know where we're going?"  Mianko complained for the fifth time.  "It feels like we've been walking forever!"  

        "I trained you all for an entire month to be in prime condition and you're complaining over a two and a half mile walk!"  Lita sounded disgusted.  "It's only another half a mile, Minako." 

        "Yay!  I get to see my brother and my two favorite sisters, and-SHIT!"  Everyone stopped and stared at the now pale senshi of love.  She'd been singing happily one minute and then…

        "What is it, Minako?"  Rei asked, crouched into a defensive position.  Lita was scanning the area with her eyes while Ami used her computer. 

        "I decided I don't want to go back."  And with that, Mianko turned and began to walk back the way they'd come.  

        "Why, Mina?"  It was Hotaru that asked. 

        "Rashid."  Ami, Hotaru, and Rei looked confused.  

        "What?"

        "Not what, guys, who."  Lita sighed.  "Come on, Mina-chan, it'll be okay."

        "Nope.  He'll kill me.  OS will Q for that matter.  I never called… not once.  OF course I didn't exactly remember him.  But neither did Haruka and you told me how he reacted to _her_.  So I'm not going back.  Call me when you need me, and I'll be there.  But I'm not going back there right now, nope not me." 

        "But Mi, he didn't mention you at all.  Why is that?"  Lita looked puzzled.  "I never heard him mention-"

                BEEP.

        Everyone looked at the writs communicator on Minako's wrist.  Sighing she opened it. 

        "Yes?"

        "I erased his memories of you, kinda.  I lost you after you and Artimas disappeared into England instead of in Japan where you were supposed to be.  He'll remember you when you show up though.  Conveniently I also made is so that he would think that you called like Serenity.  Good luck guys!"  The screen went blank again as Minako's eye twitched. 

        "I'm going to kill her."  It was said silently.  NO one argued as they began their trek to the Winner estate.  

.        .        .

        Sailor Pluto took a long look in the mirror and sighed.  This wasn't an ordinary mirror, mind you, but one that currently showed four of the senshi walking together in the woods.

        "None of them know just how tiring this job can be."  She sighed again.  "All of the meddling I've done: erasing memories, planting new ones, hiding ex-dark kingdom generals a split second before their deaths, reuniting soul mates!  Do they think I do it for the fun?  Do they?!  Do they think that I get my jollies this way?!"  She glared at the mirror. 

        "You do get your jollies that way, dearest."  A deep voice filled the area around her. 

        "Not always," she grumbled as she turned to look at the new comer.  A tall, lavender haired man stood behind her.  He smiled before slipping his arms behind her waist.  

        "None of them appreciate how hard you work, though, do they?"  She gave a brief smile at his slightly outraged tone. 

        "No.  But then again, my love, none of them know I'm Sailor Fate, either."

.        .        .

        Heero Yui, the "Perfect Soldier", had fallen asleep on his computer.  He gave a brief smile.  'If only Dr. J could see me now.'  He frowned at that thought.  Actually, it would be a cold day in hell before he wanted to see the Dr. again.  It took him another moment to realize what had woken him.

        There were four intruders on the west edge of the property.  He grabbed his gun, one thought running through his head.  Intruders were not allowed. 

.        .        .

        "Okay girls, let go of our transformation."  Lita smiled as they gave off four small flashes of light.  They were left in four cloaks, each their planetary color. 

        "I didn't realize I was cold until now," Hotaru whispered. 

        "Me either."  It was Rei that responded. 

        "The house should be that way," Ami's soft voice joined the conversation.  They walked in silence for five minutes before simultaneously dropping to the ground.  A second later a voice cut through the silence. 

        "State your name and who you work for.  You may live."  All the senshi but one shivered at the emotionless voice. 

        "My name is Lita Trio and I work for no one but myself and Serenity.  But you already knew that, didn't you, Heero Yui?"  In one fluid motion, she stood tall, dropping the hood that covered her head.  It was another moment of tense silence before a broken whisper filled the night. 

         "Lita."

&&&

That's all for today, peeps.  I'd really appreciate reviews cause they help me get through the evil writer's block.  I don't know where the idea for Sailor Pluto simultaneously being Sailor Fate came from.  I just thought she'd done so much meddling… ::shrug::  More about Duo's past as the Guardian of death next chapter, when I've figured it out.  If you noticed any mistakes, don't hesitate to e-mail me.  If it's really big, then you may get a surprise!  ::winks::  As always, Give Reviews!!! 

-Fate's Child.


	16. Reunion of the lover's kind

Hey all!  It's been a long time since I've "seen" any of you, hasn't it.  Here's the deal.  I was really sick from about Thanksgiving until a week before X-mas break.  Then my mother caught it about halfway into my illness, and so iw as taking care of her, my brother, and myself all while trying to make up all the school work I had missed.  Then it was X-mas break and I was doing shopping for me and my dad ('cause he can't do his own shopping) and on the 26th I left for Canada.  I've been busy.  Here is a (not long) chapter that doesn't really describe anything, but for all you people wanting to know what Heero and Lita's first glance of each other was like, here you go.  I just finished reading a love story so it's kinda written mushy at the beginning but then it goes back to my type writing.  

Let me know how you liked it, I'll try to get more out really soon. 

Chapter 15-Reunion

Author:  Fate's Child (Terra Brooks)

Date:  January 6, 2003

E-mail:  Prncss_Earth@hotmail.com

     The rest of the senshi watched in silence as the girl who had come to be more then a friend walked slowly to the base of the tree closest to her before raising her open hand.  There was no noise, no movement for a few seconds and suddenly a boy no older then them had dropped to the forest floor, crouching silently at the brunette's feet.  It was as if they couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't even form a single coherent thought accept that this scene in front of them was something important, something special.  It was a scene that you watched in movies, and then cried over because of the love and accompanied the silence of a lover's reunion.  It was another moment before the figure stood straight and placed his hand in hers.  

     "Lita."  There was longing in that voice, and a little bit of fear.  He pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her hair.  "Lita."  

     "Oh my god.  Heero."  Tears sprung to her eyes, unbidden, unwelcome.  "I missed you."  She could feel him smirk. 

     "Good.  Remember how that felt because I am never going to leave you alone again.  Ever."  

     "I was the one that left, remember?"

     "You were pulled back.  That's different.  Never again."  He pulled back and kissed her softly.  "We have to talk.  We have a lot to talk about."  His eyes twinkled for a moment before he turned her so that she was facing her friends, pressed against his front.  "Senshi, it's good to see you again."  Rei just gave a small nod but Minako and Hotaru exchanged a happy glance before chiming a cheerful hello.  Ami, however, was busy typing on her computer.  

     "You, Heero Yui.  It says here that you are dead."    

     "The man I was named after is dead.  My real name is… None of your concern.  Actually back in the Silver Millennium it _was Heero Yui, so this conversation is pointless anyway."  The senshi all looked at him in shock for a moment before yelling question after question at him._

     "You remember the Silver Millennium?"

     "All of it?"

     "When did you remember?"

     "How did you remember?"

     "Did you talk to Queen-"

     "People, people, we just got here, please!"  Lita laughed before placing a kiss on Heero's cheek.  "You shouldn't have said that so soon.  Our main order of business is to get back into Quatre's house so that we can find Serenity."  She grimaced.  "And then we have to find my brother.  What did you tell him about my disappearance by the way?"  

     "That you had unfinished business that you had to return for."  At her look of disbelief he stared at her with his soldier face.  "What?"

     "And he believed you?"  Heero shrugged.  "A lot has happened.  He's mellowed.  I think him and Serenity have a thing going-"

     "Serenity and Endymion love each other."  It was Mars who spoke, but she spoke softly and without heat.  

     "Do they."  It wasn't a question.  "And where is Endymion now?  Do tell me you brought him a long so I could…. Reintroduce myself."  Lita, who still was missing a good portion of her memories, just looked at him in confusion.  

     "Okay, here's the deal.  We go in, meet up with Serenity and whoever else remembers-mainly Haruka and Michiru-before getting a bunch of explainations.  Sound good?"  Without waiting for a reply, she took off towards the house.  Heero just looked at the remaining senshi. 

     "Pushy, isn't she?"  They exchanged amused glances with each other thinking of the training they had gone through.  

     "You have no idea."  Minako slapped him on the back in a friendly manner and smiled a smile that did nothing to reassure him that everything was okay.  

     "Good luck, Yui.  You're going to need it."  Without another word, they took off up after their friend.  

End Reunion

You don't review, I don't update at all.  ^_^ I'm needy, I need to know I'm loved. 


	17. Conversations and a new Crest

            It has been over a year since I have updated this story.  There really is no excuse for letting it go this long, but I do have an explanation.  In addition to having a horrendous case of writer's block I was dealing with family issues for a better part of the year.  Add to that I had graduation, a full time job in the summer and was then concentrating on trying to fit into some sort of University setting… It's been hectic.  But here I am, alive and well, and picking up this story again.  Updates will be consistent and the story will finish within the next few months, I am aiming to have it done by June at the latest.  I have midterms and finals coming up, but this story has become a priority for me as my muse Evie has made a sudden attack and I have been given no rest in terms of writing.  So here is chapter sixteen, in all its glory.  I apologize for the wait and hope you enjoy it.  Thank you to everyone who has stuck by me with this story and welcome to any new comers.  If you would like to be informed whenever there's an update, please say so in your review and be sure to leave you e-mail address.  

Author: Fate's Child 

Date: January 29, 2004

E-mail: MyDochas@hotmail.com

Homepage:  

Chapter: Sixteen 

Going Home and Finding Serenity: Conversations and a new Crest

            Duo smiled as he watched his girlfriend bounced up and down in the main hallway.  He had enjoyed the time spent with her, especially since he hadn't seen her for so long.  But he still missed his sister and was anxious to see his cousin for the first time since their deaths.  Excitement bubbled inside him and he resisted the urge to yell about Shinigami finally being reunited with his soul sister.  His mind flashed to when he first met Hotaru.

Flashback

            "Hey D!"  Duo laughed as his sister flung herself into his arms.  It had been a long four months since his sister had left for the moon and he had missed her for every minute of it.  She had been sure to send holo letters every couple of weeks but they had rarely been apart since they were four and it was harder then he'd thought it would be. 

            "I missed you Mako."  She smiled happily and hugged him tighter. 

            "I want you to meet someone."  She pulled back and he caught a glimpse of pale skin.  "Duo, this is Princess Hotaru of Saturn.  We met on the moon during training.  She's your age-has the same birthday too.  And guess what?"  Her eyes twinkled.  "She's family."

            "What?"  He finally saw Hotaru fully.  She was a little shorter than him with inky black hair.  But her eyes… he gazed into her eyes and curled his hands into fists.  Her eyes were the same startling shade of violet as his.  And there was the same darkness lurking in their depths.  

            "She's your cousin.  Our cousin.  Turns out that Mom and Hades haven't been talking to each other for years because of a slight… misunderstanding."  

            "Oh.  Well then."  He blinked to spiel the image of darkness and smiled.  "Welcome to Jupiter, cousin."

End Flashback

            His sister had returned to the Moon three weeks later, but Taru had stayed.  And in the next month he and Taru had learned that they shared a soul bond, one given to the children of the dark.  Through their parents they'd been "gifted" with the powers of death and destruction.  Two weeks later, Duo was sent to become a part of Serenity's guard.  He slid his arms around Serenity's waist as another memory hit him.  This time it was of their first meeting.  Smiling, he turned her to face him. 

            "I can think of something more interesting to do with your energy."  She just smiled back.  

            "Oh yeah?"

            "Yeah."  He smiled as she brought their lips closer together.  And groaned when the door flung open and she pulled away.  

            "Oh. My. God."  He never figured out whose voice it was because in the next second he was pushed off to the side as his girlfriend was glomped into the arms of some very happy senshi. 

            "We thought you were dead… I mean, until Mako came back, but even then she said you were different-"

            "But we don't care cause we love you anyway-"

            "No matter if you're the Queen we always knew you could be-"

            "Or the Odango Atama you were when we knew you-"

            Serenity just smiled at the last statement.  Yes, she was different.  Yes, she had lied to them.  But she missed them more then words could say.  This was her second family, her friends, the main reason she fought.  Oftentimes, she thought that she would have lost her faith in humanity if it hadn't been for these girls.  "My hope," she whispered, "my friends, my sisters, my heart of hearts.  Oh, how I missed you."  She somehow managed to put her arms around Ami, Rei, Minako, and Hotaru at the same time and sighed.  "Oh yes.  The world feels right again."  She smiled again and pulled back, managing to push back her tears.  She noted that her senshi weren't as distanced as they pretended to be as Rei coughed to hide the wiping of her tears.  Serenity broke out into a flat out grin when she looked behind them and saw Makoto wrapped in Heero's arms.  

            "Hey there, Ren.  Thought you wouldn't mind missing a hug from me till later.  I'm comfy where I am."  The Jupiter senshi winked and gave a quick grin.  

            "You may get out of hugging her, but there is no way you're getting out of a hug from me, Trio."  The voice had all the senshi moving to a protective stance in front of Serenity that she laughingly pushed through.  They looked between the boy to their right and their friend.  

            "He looks almost exactly like you.  Except for-"

            "The eyes."  Hotaru interrupted Rei.  "His eyes are mine."  Duo turned and flashed a grin at the senshi of death.  

            "Oh yea.  Remember me, Cuz?"  Hotaru looked at him and saw flashes of memory encased in darkness.  She narrowed her eyes.  

            "Oh yes.  I remember you."  And in the next moment she had him pinned to the ground.  "You stupid, boy!  You stupid, stupid boy!"  Lita watched them for a moment before swearing lightly and turning to her boyfriend. 

            "You never told me he'd had his memories back."  Heero just shrugged and kept an eye on what was happening in front of him. 

            "No time."  

            "Ow…. Hey Taru, let up for a sec, will you?"

            "Put me in a dream sleep so that I can't destroy the planet, will you?  I'll show you dream sleep!"  

            "It's been-" His protest was cut short by her sharp voice.  

            "Yeah, this is me NOT CARING!"  She banged his head against the (luckily carpeted) floor again.  

            "Umm, Hotaru, can you unhand my brother, please?"

            "In a minute, Lita.  You see, you're loving brother decided that since we were too powerful together, Metallia could harness some of our powers and turn us against the Allience.  So he decided, AGAINST MY KNOWLEDGE, to put me into a dream sleep not to awaken until the last possible second when I could destroy the remains of our civilization."

            "Duo, that was-"

            "The smart thing to do, okay?"  He looked up at his cousin, his soul sister.  "I couldn't have done it.  In my grief I would have destroyed too much, I would have let the power go wild.  You, YOU were the one that could control it, harness it to do your will.  I knew you would be the one to keep a clear head, but also that you wouldn't want to be told that.  So I did it against your knowledge."  Hotaru sighed and let him up. 

            "It's no fun to be mad at you.  You always talk your way out of everything."  

            "Oh, he doesn't always italk/i his way out of everything."  Serenity's amused voice broke into the brief silence.  

            "Way too much info on my brother, girl," Lita informed.  "Way too much."  

            "So does someone want to let us in on the secret?"  Rei's annoyed voice broke through.  Serenity turned to her and smiled. 

            "Of course.  Firstly, this is Duo Maxwell, my boyfriend."  

"Soul bond," Mina corrected.  "Minako Winner."  Hotaru just glared as Rei eyed him suspiciously.  Minako jabbed an elbow into her side.  

"Yeah, yeah.  Rei Hino."  LIta smiled as Ami bowed.  

"Ami Mizuno.  Pleasure to meet you, Duo."  

"Well, I already know you but hey there, little bro."  

"Don't you, "hey there" me, you big… liar."  He glared.  "You said that you were here to stay last time."  

"Um… It was Pluto's fault?"  Lita grinned as he waved away the answer.  

"Either way, it's good to see you.  Really see you." 

"Tell me about it."  Her gaze slid to her boyfriend as Heero just grinned.  

"Let's head up to the west wing den and finish this conversation.  The rest of the boys should be back soon enough and I don't want them walking into this."  They all followed their princess up the stairs in silence.  They entered the room and immediately sat down in similar positions to their study sessions at the Temple.  The only difference was that Lita was curled against Heero and Serenity was sitting on the floor between Duo's legs.  A minute later Haruka and Michiru came in and sat on either side of their adoptive daughter.  

            "Okay.  Firstly, this is Lita's brother Duo.  Since Hotaru was cousins of the Jupiter children, Duo also possesses the power of death and destruction.  Second, Heero Yui is from the Silver Millennium, both he and Duo were a part of the Moon Guard.  While the senshi took care of protecting me, the Moon Guard was in charge of watching the barriers of the castle."  All of the senshi shifted their attention to the boy sitting next to their friend.  He sighed. 

            "In this life I am one of the Gundam pilots that you should have learned about from Lita.  I am pilot 01 and was trained to have no emotions," Heero went on to give a brief explanation of his childhood and early pilot years. After he finished, Duo did the same.  

"Lita and I grew up on the streets.  I'm assuming that she's told you some of it.  And I won't go into details.  But after she left, I thought she was dead and went back to the Maxwell church.  I eventually stole a mobile suit for Oz thinking that they would leave the rest of the church alone.  They didn't think I could do it," he paused for a second, eyes on old memories, "to make a long story shorter, they killed everyone in the church.  It's known as the Maxwell Massacre.  I was deciding on what I should do with my future when I was approached by a man who asked me to come with him and train, for revenge."  Duo told briefly of his training and then of his meetings with the other pilots  before turning to look at Haruka.  

            "Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you all want to know why exactly I didn't know who Minako and Usagi where. For those of you that don't know," she looked at Ami, Rei, and Hotaru.  "I am the twenty seventh daughter of the Winner family.  I left when I was ten because of family problems.  Serenity visited me, and Minako did occasionally.  But Quatre could only visit me whenever Father wouldn't know.  Father died and Pluto brought me to the past and then changed my memories so I thought I had a different past," she scowled, "The rest you know, until a while ago when she decided to return my memories."  She turned to Michiru and smiled.  "But I did get to fall in love."  The rest of the senshi smiled before turning to look at the aqua haired senshi. 

"Me, I'm very… normal.  I had never been to this time before Haruka brought me here."  She smiled again, this time a bit apologetically 

"Me on the other hand…" everyone's attention focused to Serenity.  "I am sorry to have kept this from you, my friends, but I was forbidden to tell you… It has been a difficult time for me, trying so very hard to be someone that you oftentimes seemed disappointed in."  Her smile was sad.  "I am the twenty eighth daughter of the Winner family."  She went on to explain a little of her past, and what had happened once she'd returned to her time.  

In the next 2 hours, each senshi told of their real childhood, their real past and hopes and dreams.  Rei looked at her Princess seriously and stood, walking towards her Princess, her friend and kneeled, the other inner senshi did the same, and Lita moved out of Heeros arms to kneel with her fellow senshi.  After a moment of quiet contemplation, Haruka and Michiru did the same, trusting the brunette senshi.  

"Serenity," Rei began, "Before you knew we were your senshi, you went out of your way to befriend us.  You ignored the rumor that I was into dark magic."

"That I was a karate maniac."

"That I was nothing more then a brain."  

"You let Chibi-Usa befriend me even though I showed signs of evil."

"You liked me for me, not because I looked like sailor V."

"And you welcomed us into your team even after we had been cruel to you."  

"But the rest of us, we didn't start as friends, we started as teammate."  Rei spoke again, but turned to look at Ami as her throat grew tight.  The water senshi's lips lifted upward.

"But we should have befriended and loved each other, as you had done, first, before we tried to save the world.  We decided, after Makoto had returned to be friends first, senshi last.  It was our tribute to you, but now that we have you back… it still feels right.  If we have your permission majesty?"  Serenity sat up straight and smiled, knowing what her senshi were asking.  She looked around and noticed the slight smiles on Haruka and Michiru's face.  They agreed.  

            "My senshi, I agree.  In the Silver Millennium it was written on our crest "Serenity for the people".  Our new crest, in this new time shall from this day forward be, "Trust, love, and honour, but always friendship first".  From now on, friendship first."  And with a smile, she raised her hand, and a flash of power rocked the room.  When the senshi looked down, in front of them floated their transformation pen with their new crest written in Lunarian.  The smiled.  Definitely friendship first. 

            "And now, my senshi, we have an important agenda to deal with.  We have had more false memories with us.  The first course of order," her eyes grew hard, "Endymion."

*** 

           Confused looks went around the room.  "He showed up not long after you'd disappeared.  Which was odd because, as you know, we thought he was lost in the battle with Galexia."  It was Ami that spoke, but everyone looked as Serenity winced.  

            "More confession time, guys.  Mamoru wasn't dead.  I knew he wasn't, but as he'd asked me not to tell you he was alive-and at that time I was confused over my feelings towards Seiya… I complied."  

            "But," Lita paused.  "When you…when I thought you had died you said "maybe I can love him".  I was sure you were speaking of Mamoru."  

            "I was.  I thought that in death, maybe I could see what I hadn't in life.  That maybe I could come to love him as I was certain I would be watching over the rest of you and him as well."  

            "He was different when we saw him.  Cold."  

            "He always was a cold basta-"

            "No, Haruka."  Rei interrupted.  "Not cold like that.  Freezing in personality, in anger when he found what was done to Usagi.  There was no…explanation for why he had been gone, all he said was that it didn't matter because we had lost his princess.  But there was no emotion in his words, no devastation.  It was cold." 

            "As if he'd misplaced a toy he suddenly had need of."  Minako winced.  "Rei lit into him.  He didn't leave happy either."  

            "I saw him a few times walking around near your house, the school.  I'd follow him but it was like he'd vanish after a while.  I didn't mention it because I thought… as odd as it was I thought I was seeing a ghost, didn't want to believe he'd..." 

            "You weren't the only one, Rei."  Minako looked grim.  "I thought I was seeing ghosties too."  

            "Yes, well."  Serenity tapped her fingers against her leg.  "Isn't that interesting.  I think I just figured something out."  Her eyes were burning.  "Firstly, Endy wasn't my love, lover, or betrothed at the end of the Silver Millennium.  What he was, was a royal pain in my ass.  That's all."  Everyone still missing their memories looked pretty shocked.  "Mak-Lita.  Tell them about the youma."  Lita nodded.  

            "Serenity and I faced a youma that was unlike any we've seen since Beryl.  It was made up of the some dark energy matter as those in our first months of battle.  IT was stronger, but definitely a female youma."  Serenity nodded. 

            "We've had cardians, circus freaks, and animates."  But only Beryl or those of high command in her army had control over any type of youma.  The only living member of the Dark Kingdom is Mamoru.  I'm assuming that after the battle with Galexia, his memory was… returned as to what had happened in the Silver times."  She looked around the room.  "His plan, I originally believed was to kill me and break up the senshi.  It would make for an easier offensive attack on the planet.  Now, however… I believe it was his mission to kill Makoto and therefore break up the senshi.  He would have done this by revealing himself, and letting you know I knew as well.  You're faith in me would have been reduced, as would your trust."  

            "You can't honestly think that Mamo-"

            "No, Rei.  Not Mamoru.  Endymion.  Think really hard on your memories of him in the Millennium.  Really hard."  

            "No food."  It was Lita who remembered first, slowly.  "Rei, Ami, Makoto and Hotaru followed.  

            "Who would give us fake-"  Ami was interrupted by as a portal opened and Pluto stepped out.  

            "Queen Serenity, Ami." 

            "But why?"  

            "Because she thought that Serenity would fall in love with him eventually and that they would create a peaceful kingdom.  But she was wrong.  He was powerful, yes.  But so was Duo.  Serenity feared his powers as they were the opposite of her daughters."  Pluto de-transformed and sat next to Haruka-the farthest from Minako she could get.  

            "But we have other business to attend to then the past.  He is here, in this time."  Pluto turned to Hiiro who relayed what Queen Serenity had told him.  

            "It seems to me that we should let the Preventors handle everything that they can and step in if or when they need us."  It was Lita that spoke.  

            "Sounds like a plan.  I did speak to Seiya and the lights who are relieved we are all alright.  It seems, however, that they were contacted by Mamoru himself two weeks ago who had stated that I had gone missing."  

            "Bastard," Haruka hissed.  

            "Yes.  But what is his goal?  He can't think to take over…"  Ami trailed off as she looked towards her princess.  

            "He's trying to control the Sanq Kingdom.  Or he will, which is what Mother meant about the whole "Relena's unbalanced" comment.  Apparently he's going for the whole seduce-the-Princess thing again." 

            "No go.  Miss Queen of the airheads has a major case on Heero.  She beats your Mamo-wail ten to one."  Serenity grimaced.  

            "When he figures out, he'll convince her he can give her what she wants until he has all the power he can get.  He won't be happy because that will take him a year or two.  But he wants power fast.  He thinks to have the Starlights invade, causing panic.  He will then, "call them off" and be reveled as a hero.  She'll believe him then.  A man who could stop an invasion on earth and the colonies… But that plan is shot now and he'll know I'm alive even though it won't be the lights that tell him.  " 

            "So why did the Queen want Relena near Seiya?"  

            "Because until Seiya, Usagi Tsukino was completely devoted to Mamoru Chiba."  Ami responded, typing data into her coputer.  "In theory he'll see Seiya as a threat again, which will set off that rather nasty possessive nature he has." 

            "So, in theory, she'll-Relena, that is-will see he's a jerk and dump his sorry ass."  Serenity grinned.  

            "Not in so many words, Minako, but yes.  Essentially."  

            "Uh huh."  What y'all aint countin' is that Relena's nutters.  If she thinks it'll get her soldier boy, she'll partner up with her worst enemy."  Duo grinned as Lita snuggled closer to her boyfriend, an angry frown marring her features.  

            "Well, I suppose we'll try to stick Seiya on her anyway-no harm trying.  However, we should also make secondary plans just in-" a crash cut her off and she hissed in annoyance before turning in surprise as Duo stood up quickly and almost sent her crashing to the ground.  "Duo, what-" 

            "MAXWELL!!"  Duo grinned sheepishly.  

            "Um, oops?"  At his girlfriend's glare, he backed up slowly.  "I forgot about it completely or I would have dismantled it.  And-"

            "MAXWELL!"  The senshi started as a dirty, wet, Chinese boy stomped his way into the room, a katana unsheathed in his had and murder in his eye.  There was blood on the side of his shirt and he did inot/i look happy at their friend's soulmate-who was, at the moment, trying to hide behind his girlfriend.  "This is the last time you'll-"

            "Oh."  The small exhalation of breath from the fire senshi turned his head for a moment.  He halted his movements and stood frozen.  

            "Marrian?"  Rei seemed to come back to herself as he spoke.  

            "I'm sorry?" 

            "Marrian, how-"  Wufei was pale now, his voice shaking, katana tipped towards the ground.  

            "My middle name, yes.  Though I'm not sure how you could have known it."  Rei spoke slowly, her hand not moving from where it rested on her heart.  

            "How are you alive?  How…"  

            "I'm sorry.  But I don't believe I know you."  Her words seemed to break his heart.  Rei tried to ignore the tremble in her body as she watched his seem to deflate.  

            Minako had watched a tendril of light unwind itself from her friend as the boy had stormed into the room.  Had watched as it had entangled itself in his, and flared bright for a moment.  She turned to look at the horrified faces of Makoto, Haruka, Michiru and Usagi.  It seemed that they were still missing some of their memories.  And she knew who exactly who was going to tell her what was missing.  

End Chapter.


End file.
